Immortal Love
by misspandalily
Summary: Tenten didn't think senior year was going to be particularly difficult, schoolwork aside. Then again, she didn't factor in meeting Hyuga Neji, or becoming the love interest of a millennia-old man. This is her life. (AU - SUxTTxNH)
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

You begin to notice funny things when you're in love, like the silky smooth quality of her voice, and the way her eyes twinkle on the rare occasion you manage to make her laugh.

I remember wrapping my arms around her as I breathe in her scent - cherry blossoms, with a hint of sunshine.

I remember my heart suddenly beating faster, and more profoundly, as if the mere fact that I love her is more than enough of a reason for it to take flight. And it is.

I never wanted to let her go, afraid that I'd lose her if I didn't cling on tight enough. But she reassures me that she loves me too, and for now, that's good enough.

After we part ways, one night turns into several, several nights turns into months, and the months eventually morph into a full year's worth of pain, agony and grief. That is, until I finally catch sight of her in the marketplace. My hesitation to venture outside turns into happiness - she's there in the flesh. Her eyes, a beautiful brown hue, still twinkles when she smiles, and the sound of her voice makes my heart soar again. It's been too long.

Only, she's not smiling at me, and it isn't my arms that she's encased in.

He's taller than me, with a stronger physique and manlier voice. The strange man is surprisingly tender around her, and I can't stand to watch them interact.

How did this happen? When did our love fall apart?

I then think back to all those months ago, the night after I last parted ways with her. I remember father being cooped up in his office and stressing over some unknown paperwork. I remember my mother packing all of our things, but fail to remember how I reacted. Was I too swept up in my love for her that I forgot to communicate with the world outside?

I turn around, pain evident in my features. I remember now, and it feels like a knife tore itself into my heart. It isn't manly to cry, but after I return home, the tears come pouring out of me like an unstoppable waterfall.

She's gone, unreachable, _untouchable_. Knowing this makes me grieve even more; never again will I hear the sound of her voice caressing my ears, or see the curve of her lips as she smiles, and never again will I feel her soft skin against mine. I hate it, and decide to put an end to this mess.

After all, love transcends barriers.

Love transcends space.

Love transcends time.

* * *

 **New story! The next chapter will be up soon, so in the meantime - please review! Constructive criticisms and feedback welcomed with open arms.**

 **~misspandalily**


	2. Chapter 1

_**Thank you very much, to the followers and favouriters, and also FruitySmell, KeroRibbit, dianalovely1995, MrGoodyTwoShoes, and SilentMidnight2 for reviewing! **_

* * *

Pit me up in a fight against Rock Lee and he'll be on the ground before you can say 'youth'. It's a matter of extreme stamina training and simple physics - one of his punches packs enough momentum for me to grab his fist and haul him over my shoulder in a split second. _Please_ , this stuff is like breathing to me.

My kryptonite? Blind dates. More specifically, blind dates set up by a giggling blonde flower petal sitting in the corner of McDonald's. I hate flowers.

The guy's cute, at least. Pale, brown eyes, browner hair. I'd find his oversized coat endearing if it wasn't emanating a distinct canine scent. Gross.

"So," I try my best not to focus on his red cheek tattoos when he speaks up, "I like dogs, and my family runs the vet clinic down the road. The name's Kiba, by the way."

"Like, kibble?" It rushes out of my mouth before I get a chance to think it through. Judging by the look on his face, he doesn't seem too pleased about it. Well, that's fine. I didn't want to go on this stupid date anyway.

Grandpa Hiruzen's rule #1 is to never run away from my problems, and I'm proud to say running away is something I've never done. Even so, rules are made to be broken. I start planning the best way to run out of McDonald's without seeming like _too much_ of an asshole: two exits - one through the front door, one to the playground and the toilets. Make that three.

A pretty, dark-haired girl walks into the fast food store and captures his attention. It's uncanny how his tongue hangs out of his mouth when he sees her - like a dog awaiting its first meal of the day.

Hiruzen rule #2: Strike while the iron is hot. I begin to stand up when a familiar girl with spiky hair walks up to our table. I grin at the same time Kibbles does.

"Tenten," she purrs, and I return what I hope is a seductive smile, "fancy seeing _you_ here." The girl sits on my lap and leans a slender arm across my shoulders. We settle into a comfortable position as she kisses my cheek. Kibble's grin turns into a look of utter confusion. I bite my cheek to keep myself from laughing.

His face goes red with embarrassment. "I'll just, uh, get going now. Uh, see you, Tenten." We stay in our position until his mop of hair disappears from our view before we burst out into laughter. I scoot over and she slams down next to me, grabbing a chip from the pile while wiping a tear from her eye.

"Did you _see_ the look on his face? I swear, if I had a camer-"

"You'd _what_?" We look up to see an award-winning scowl from the aforementioned flower petal. "That date took me _weeks_ to organise, and you just blew it out with the window! Do you know what this is?" Ino plops down across from us, exasperated, "It's a record _two_ minutes!"

"One," Temari quips with a hamburger-stuffed mouth. Ino glares at us when we start laughing again.

"Did you at least get his name, or were you two too busy pretending to eat each other's faces off...again."

"Hey, hey!" I put my hands up in the air beside my head, "He likes dogs, or dog food, and his family works at a vet clinic." I trail off when Ino looks at me expectantly. "And his name's... _Kibbles_." Temari starts shrieking with laughter. Ino seems torn between laughing her head off and maintaining a moral high-ground.

She chooses a bottle of sparkling water instead. The dark-haired girl from earlier strides over to our table and sits down next to Ino, carton of macaroons in tow. It's fascinating watching her eat them, like observing a starved lion devouring a hunk of fresh meat, only, she looks like a doll. Looks can be deceiving.

That's the beauty of Hinata - no matter how much you shower her with riches, splendour and "lady lessons", as I dub them, once she's well away from familial eyes, it's like looking at a completely different person. She can switch from a demure, frills-and-pinks-loving princess to a monstrous, sarcastic sass-pot within a few seconds; I've _seen_ it happen and it was magical.

Not that magic is real. Correction: phenomenal.

She downs her macaroons faster than Temari can finish a fry, which is saying something because she ate two bucket-loads in five minutes when we snuck out of school one time. What amazes me is the fact that she always seems to be at peak-level fitness, regardless of what she shoves down her mouth. Damn her and her metabolism.

Ino grimaces when Hinata lets out a large belch, surprising the entire restaurant. "You should really watch what you eat, Hinata. That can't be good for you." Hinata puts on her best puppy dog face. Ino lets its drop without another word - like I said, phenomenal.

Temari finishes off the fries, and we rush into the bathrooms to fix our appearances.

Here's the sitch: Konoha Academy, prestigious private school with a load of wealthy kids from wealthy or well-connected families. As they all tend to go, lunch is in gourmet cafeterias, lessons in high-tech classrooms and an overdose of assholes. There's a social hierarchy that comes with rich people, the highest "ranks" based on the amount of money you have. Hinata's in among those ranks - her family's filthy rich and has been running the multinational Hyuga Industries for decades. Ino's family runs a huge flower-supplying business that's been operating since the 1800s, and struck gold when it started a partnership with Hyuga Industries.

Temari and I are similar in the fact that we both came from a freakishly long line of nobility - the incestuous kind. We're related, I guess, somewhere down the track. It isn't entirely impossible to fathom, mitochondrial DNA in the maternal lines prove it.

We head over to Hinata's place every day after school for "study sessions", most of which we spend gossiping and playing Call of Duty on her computer. Hiashi, Hinata's stick-up-the-ass dad permits it because we're all "from esteemed families".

He's crazy, which is why we spend a good twenty minutes each day polishing up our appearances in the bathroom to look as appropriate as possible.

"Thinking about it," Temari says quietly, "Tenten only wears dresses when we go to Hinata's place." Everyone else seems to have come to the same dawning realisation. It's true; my comfy rock band t-shirts and worn-out black converses only switch to sundresses and cork-heeled wedges when I go to the Hyuga Mansion. I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, well. Hiashi- hey. Hey! HEY! NO PICTURES!" I screech, lunging towards Ino like my life depended on it. Ino giggles and runs out of the door like a woman on a mission. I grit my teeth, storming into one of the toilet stalls to change back into my school uniform.

She is _so_ dead.

* * *

Hyuga Mansion somewhat resembles Buckingham Palace, complete with marble columns on either side of the imposing palatial doors, and a wrought-iron fence surrounding the perimeter of the property. It's _huge_ and looms over the horizon like a formidable fortress. It kind of is.

Apparently, Hinata's family has been living in it for three generations, so there isn't a single marble tile that hasn't been overturned and inspected for incriminating materials like termites or nuclear bombs. The Hyugas are pedantic, in that aspect.

We're driven into the garage by a middle-aged man named Kakashi, who spends his free time reading erotic novels in the front seat of the car. He used to replace the front covers with those of _Driving 101_ and _Tips and Tricks of Road Navigation._ That died out when Hiashi demanded a no-hiding policy for all staff members of the Mansion. I hear Kakashi giggle every now and then when I catch him reading _Icha Icha Paradise_. Shameless.

Hiashi stands at the garage's doorway, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl that could send Naruto into the Pits of Despair, which he _did_ do. Once. Idiot tried sneaking into Hinata's room at midnight and jumped into Hiashi's instead. His eyes narrowed at us as we stepped out of the car.

"Hinata."

Hinata plasters on a blush the colour of a tomato, and looks down. "Y-yes, father?"

"You're fifty-five seconds late." I can hear Temari rolling her eyes.

"I-I'm s-sorry, father." Hiashi's scowl softens to an earth-shattering glare. He nods his head firmly.

"Dinner is at seven, don't be late. Your cousin will be visiting today, and I don't want any discrepancies with my timetable. Is that understood?" Hinata stammers out a "yes, sir" before he leaves the doorway. We all let out a deep breath and charge up to Hinata's room with the fluid grace of a herd of elephants.

Ino and Temari are the last to enter the room, making a show of slamming the door shut.

"Don't worry about him, Hinata. He's just a grouchy prude." Temari claps Hinata's shoulder gently. She nods quietly in response. It becomes achingly silent in the room, save for the steady ticking of her analogue clock. A thought suddenly pops up into my head.

"Wait. Since when did you have a cousin?"

Everyone turns towards me with scandalised expressions on their faces.

" _Seriously_?" Ino places her hands on her hips. "Since like," she waves her hands in the air dramatically, "They were born!"

Hinata confirms Ino's statement. "He visits Hyuga Mansion regularly, haven't you met him?" I shake my head, feeling confused.

"Has anyone here, besides you?" Temari and Ino nod their heads vigorously.

"He's _hot_."

"More like dreamy." They gush over Hinata's cousin with starry eyes. "And his _voice_ is so _smooth_."

"And delicious. Hinata, if he wasn't your cousin, I would bite that-" Said girl clears her throat loudly, a clear look of disgust manifesting on her delicate features.

"I'd rather not."

"When do I get to meet the Cousin, then?"

"Well, he's staying over for dinner, so, tonight? If you're willing to stay back a little longer, that is."

Temari looks like she's going to faint from happiness. The expression quickly morphs into a look of horror.

"B-but, Tenten's in her uniform!" She catches my incredulous expression.

"Way to go, Empress Obvious."

Ino swats my buns impatiently, "You can't wear your uniform in front of _him_. He'll probably think we're weirdos for being friends with you! Or worse, _schoolgirls_!"

"Oh, _gee_ , thanks."

It's Hinata's turn to roll her eyes. "He goes to our school, guys, calm dow-"

"He _goes_ to our _school_? How do I not know these things?"

"Yes, Tenten, he's in our chemistry class," she states curtly, "And besides, he won't judge you based on your clothes. What kind of prejudiced pig does that, anyway?"

Hanabi, Hinata's prodigal twelve year old sister, pokes her head into the room at that very moment. Hinata calls her the devil's advocate. "Dad does that."

"Piss off, bird breath."

She feigns a look of hurt towards her sister. "But I was Bird Breath _last time_! Honestly, I thought I trained you better."

Hinata grits her teeth, warning voice low and threatening. "Hanabi..."

"Chill, sis, Dad just decided to have an earlier dinner. You all have ten minutes. Hey, Tennie!" The younger girl disappears before I can reply.

"As I was saying...he's not a bad guy, alright? Just a little..." She trailed off uncertainly.

"Tall, dark and handsome?"

"Irresistibly tasty?"

"Reserved," the Hyuga heiress finished off firmly. "And stoic. But sociable, most of the time." I glance at her skeptically.

"I guess? Shouldn't we be heading downstairs now?"

Right on cue, a Hyuga housemaid gently knocks on the bedroom door. "May I escort you and your friends to the dinner hall, miss?" They ask out of politeness, most of the time. Hiashi's been adamant on having someone chaperone Hinata around the house ever since Naruto dropped in for a surprise visit. Like, literally, dropped in.

We all follow the maid to a large white dining hall with a marble table positioned at its centre, exquisitely carved chairs stationed around it. I see Hiashi sitting at the helm of the table, hands imposingly positioned underneath his chin. On his right is Hinata's currently empty seat, and to his left Hanabi, sans her trademark cheeky expression.

My eyes pause on a teenaged replica of Hiashi who's currently conversing with Hanabi. The same long, flowing hair hangs down the length of their backs, combed to perfection. The boy looks up at our arrival and I notice the same expression rests on his face - cold and steely. A shiver runs down my spine at their uncanny resemblance to the shogun leaders from my history textbooks.

"Welcome, guests," Hiashi gestures towards the spare seats, "please, take a seat." Temari, Ino and Hinata shuffle towards the right side the table and push me towards Hanabi's side. I sit down next to The Cousin, giving them questioning looks.

"G-good afternoon, Father, Neji." Hiashi gives her the stern nod that makes me want to slap a smile on his face.

"Good afternoon, Hinata." His voice _is_ smooth, I realise with a jolt. It's deep, and manly, but _so_ charming at the same time. "And friends." Hiashi's approving nod mirrors my assessment of his voice.

One of the serves put a tiny bowl of soup in front of me. It's a strange, green colour and smells like cat piss.

"Roasted dandelion and Icelandic truffle soup, sir."

"Ah," the patriarch remarks (relatively) happily, "My favourite."

"Sir," he glares at my interruption.

"What is it, child," Hiashi snaps at me. I ignore the frightened looks that Hinata's sending me.

"With all due respect, are you sure these truffles are...well, truffles?"

At that moment, I'm pretty sure Hiashi would've sent me to the fiery pits of hell if he wasn't a law-abiding citizen. "What are you implying, girl?"

I decide that it's too late to back out now, and carry on. "For starters, sir, truffles are subterranean bodies that require nutrient-rich soils to thrive in." Ino sends me her best _'shut your trap before you end up dead_ ' eye message. "And Iceland isn't exactly famous for it's fertile soil. It's too barren and too harsh of a climate for truffles to grow in, not to mention the fact that Alpine environments are an ideal- oof."

Temari's foot connects with my shin as she hurriedly motions towards Hiashi's livid face. I gulp.

"Tenten is the highest scoring student in our class, Hiashi-sama. Her ability to question facts is what has lead to her academic success. An admirable skill, uncle." Hiashi stops glaring and regards me with mild interest. I make a mental note to give the Cousin a monumental kiss later. A totally _platonic, non-committal_ , monumental kiss. Of course.

My brain short circuits for a split second. He knows my name. Holy cow.

"Indeed, Neji, young and able minds never cease to impress me. Are you involved in any extra-curricular activities, Tenten?"

Neji. His name is Neji. "Uhh. I'm in the karate team... And I can swim. It's not much, sir."

Ino's shill laugh reverberates through the room at my reply. Hiashi fixates his steady gaze onto her. "Nonsense, sir. Tenten's just being modest. She's the three time national champion of Konoha Academy's karate team, not to mention the swim team captain for two years in a row."

He nods - again. "That _is_ impressive, and for some reason was never mentioned at the dinner table. I would be delighted to receive you in Hyuga Industries after your graduation, given that you achieve top marks, of course. You would be a worthy addition." Hinata shrinks in her seat. "You could learn from her, Hinata, it would be refreshing to see a strong-minded lady take up Hyuga Industries after I resign."

I feel my anger flare up, along with Temari's and Ino's. " _Sir_ ," I lash out first, "that hardly seems fair. Hinata works so hard to prove herself to you-"

"Tenten." Hinata shakily interrupts my rant. "Leave it." I open my mouth in protest.

"But it's no-"

" _Tenten_ ," she repeats. I stand down, not bothering to hide the frustration on my face. Higher ranking bullies at school always get on my nerves, with their stuck-up attitudes and personalised ideals. Hiashi was no different, only I couldn't punch his face in like I did to the ones at school.

"I consider myself a very generous man, Tenten. Be my ally and you will find yourself with a multitude of possibilities for your future. By my enemy, child, and you will find yourself with none." I don't look at his face in fear of lashing out again.

"Thank you, _sir_." He dismisses me with a wave of his hand, and I storm out of the dining hall, dead set on abandoning the Hyuga estate within the next few seconds.

A cold hand touches down on my shoulder, stopping my mid-stride. It's Neji.

"What do you want?" I spit out angrily. He looks as unmoved by the outburst as a dead tree log.

"I'll drive you home. Hiashi's already dismissed Kakashi for the night." His light grey eyes meet mine.

"Sure, whatever."

* * *

His car has leather seats and Green Day stickers all over the dashboard. It's a weird combination - his traditionalist appearance and the car, I mean. Like a 19th century brick building with a sleek jet plane on top of it. _Like X-men_. I love X-men.

Neji looks at me out of the corner of his eye when he thinks I'm not looking. He obviously didn't catch me staring at his chest muscles earlier. He keeps staring, nevertheless, and it starts to get on my nerves. I suck in a deep breath and swivel my head around to return his gaze.

"What?"

"What you did was utterly _idiotic_." He hits the brakes at a traffic light.

"Well, I didn't see you sticking up for Hinata so that was _utterly_ dickish of you." I try not to concentrate on the way his jaw clenches when he's tense.

"That was a family situation, Tenten, you of all people should know not to get involved in them."

My nostrils flare in indignation. " _Me_ , of all people? Since you know me so well, person I just met _today_ , you could give me a little more insight about myself!"

"Tenten Sarutobi, granddaughter of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mayor of Konoha. Am I correct?" I stay silent, slightly shocked at how much he knew about me. Granted, the mayor doesn't really have the most private life, but, still. Neji continues.

"He keeps a remarkably stiff upper lip about his personal life, and hates it when other people get involved with his family. I may have only known you for one hour, Tenten, but you don't strike me as someone who would enjoy having your private life probed and examined." He's right, and I hate admitting it. So I remain silent instead. Neji follows my lead and steers the car in the directions I gave him earlier on.

I start rationalising my thoughts. Me sticking up for Hinata and showing off my truffle knowledge accomplished nothing, really. _It probably got her into even more trouble_. I groan internally, regretting my impulsive actions. Hinata frequently rants about her dad's strict upbringing, and his steel-cold methods of tough love and punishment - not inhumane, but they still unkind and harsh. Grandpa's number one rule comes back to me like a slap to the face. I couldn't run away from a problem even if I tried to, and look where it got me?

His car comes to smooth halt at the door of my apartment building, jolting me out of my thoughts. I can see the confusion on his face - _you don't live with the Sarutobis_? - but he makes no motion to ask me about it.

"So, thanks, I guess. For the lift." He nods a Hiashi-like nod. "And for, you know. Sticking up for me earlier. Um, thanks."

For a minute, he's silent, as if debating the correct response to my gratitude. And then it happens, so fleeting and beautiful that it lit up the entire night sky. Neji smiled.

"No problem."

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **Please, feel free to read and review - feedback would be fantastic. :)**


	3. Chapter 2

**I've been receiving some confused inquiries about the premise of the prologue, and will pull out an age-old response: Keep reading to find out! Trust me, it will make more sense in due time.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Tenten Sarutobi (12A - 2015)

TUESDAY

9:00AM - 9:45AM Physics (D. KATO)

9:50AM - 10:35AM Gym (M. GAI)

10:35AM - 11:05AM RECESS

11:10AM - 11:55AM Chemistry (I. UMINO)

12:00PM - 12:45PM English (K. YUUHI)

12:45PM - 1:45PM LUNCH

1:50PM - 2:35PM Biology (JIRAIYA)

2:40PM - 3:25PM Mathematics (D. SHIMURA)

Pomp and superiority complexes aside, the Academy schools exactly four hundred trust fund babies per year, making it the educational facility with the lowest number of students in all of Konoha.

I kid you not, Konoha is a huge metropolis with about seventy secondary schools alone, most of which have over a whopping seven hundred students per school. That's over forty-nine thousand horny, pubescent teens crammed into schools all over the city.

("Tenten?")

Logically, all that government funding should be going into "creating a cleaner, healthier environment for the next generation" - and _it is_ , kind of, if you ignore the increasing lack of actual green spaces around the city.

("Tenten!")

Going by what I've seen, a lot of the money still seems to be going into building sky rises to accommodate for a never-ending baby boom.

" _Tenten_!"

A low, muffled groan that _definitely_ did not come out of my mouth is suddenly audible, preceding a sharp jab to my stomach.

"Ow! What is your problem?"

Shikamaru moves his head the teensiest bit, so that there's just enough room to drawl out a response but not enough to uncover his face from his arm-pillow - God forbid that happen. "Listen to the damn teacher."

Mr Kato, AKA Konoha Academy's Resident Hottie (and, unfortunately, the principal's husband), casts a shadow over our desk, simultaneously wearing a scowl that could make _Hiashi_ tremble. If he was capable of trembling, anyway.

Hiashi. Hinata. Hyuga. Neji. Hot. Damn it Tenten, focus.

"Uh, good morning?" Mr Kato's scowl deepens. "Sir?"

"Good morning indeed, Tenten, and detention."

"What?" I gawk out, momentarily glaring at Shikamaru for snorting. "But, sir."

I paste on my best angelic face, the one Hinata uses to get out of trouble when she hangs out with Naruto after school, but, sadly, it only seems to work on the more mischievous teachers.

"Wednesday, Principal's office, right after sixth period." He glances over at a sleeping Shikamaru, and narrows his eyes. "The same goes to you, Shikamaru - students must be awake at all times while on school grounds and adhere to the dress code."

Right. So, Konoha Academy's also really anal about pressed shirts being buttoned all the way up, and what not. It's not a bad-looking uniform, honestly. The design is simple - black blazer, white under shirt, red tie and a red tartan skirt. And the standard black stockings don't exactly freeze people to death in the winter either, so it's a fair trade for having to iron-press the uniform every night.

The only questionable item, though, is this weird (fore)headband that has the school's symbol on it - a curly leaf. Apparently it's to honour Konoha's previous history as the world's espionage capital, but since being a well known spy hub is the biggest contradiction in the history of contradictions, no one needs to wear it anymore.

The only one who does is like, Naruto, who practically lives in the Principal's office because he insists on leaving his shirt halfway open while donning a long black cape with his name scrawled on it in huge letters. Hinata seems to love his pseudo-bad boy image, and he's a genuinely nice guy when he's not blatantly insulting every teacher he sees, so that's why no one's tried to pummel him into the ground yet. _Yet_.

Shikamaru shoots me a half-assed glare when he sees I'm not paying attention again.

"School sucks." I slam my physics textbooks open, purposefully letting it blast wind into his face. It does so perfectly; these books are gigantic.

Once Mr Kato resumes writing on the board, his head drops down to the desk like a magnet.

"Preaching to the choir, sister."

* * *

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow."

"Would you shut up?" Temari swats my arm, successfully leaving a small bruise in the process. I check my arm. Or, maybe not. Whatever. "You're such a baby."

I lean on Temari's shoulder like it's my lifeline. "You wouldn't be saying that if you had gym with GAI." She grins back at me. "AND LEE."

"That _is_ true. Aren't you hating yourself for not dropping out of gym now?"

"Keep walking, Spikehead."

"Aye aye, captain."

We make it to the cafeteria at record speed, which is surprising as the hallways are usually littered with underclass men the moment any break begins.

Thankfully, one of the perks of having gym is that the gymnasium itself is literally two minutes away from the cafeteria - most likely violating several health and hygiene codes, but when you're the richest school in the state, that's probably not a problem.

Hinata's already at our usual table (on the side, away from the centre, where Naruto normally starts massive food fights) with Ino, but there's two new additions to our little...crib.

One is a heavily-muscled bodyguard with tinted sunglasses and a stoic expression on his face. He's standing next to Hinata, diligently giving us ninety-degree bows and introducing himself as 'Yamato, Lady Hinata's loyal bodyguard'.

The other is equally stoic, but much intense, if the light wave of greeting is anything to go by.

"Hey, Neji, what's up?"

He shrugs, somehow making it look like the most refined gesture there is, and does nothing else.

Yamato stops what he's doing as we sit down to eat, and starts shooting me suspicious glances every now and then. They go unnoticed most of the time, except by Neji, who shares a knowing glance with me.

Hiashi has eyes everywhere.

Woodstock, as Temari so aptly nicknames him, has a silently overbearing presence that hardly dissipates throughout the rest of lunch and chemistry (and, hey, Neji really is in the same class as me), lasting all the way up to maths with Mr Shimura. Unfortunately, having most of my classes with Hinata doesn't seem to be alleviating that elephant in the room at all.

Shimura is easily the craziest of all the staff in Konoha Academy, as well as the grumpiest and most sadistic. Rumour has it he was a ruthless gang leader back in his hay day, and has Illuminati-styled eye tattoos running down the length of his right arm. Freaky.

Point is, he's _so_ wound up about maintaining order in the classroom that the moment Yamato strides in behind Hinata, the door slams shut in his sunglasses-clad face. Boom.

The class quietens down as soon as he fixes his one-eyed gaze upon us, and he turns towards the board to begin working. Hinata's studiously copying down the day and date in the corner of her page like a good girl, refusing to even look at me.

I frown; it's not like Yamato's here to babysit her anymore, shouldn't talking be fine now? I rip out a page of my exercise book, careful not to alert Mr Shimura to any unwanted sounds.

 _hey, everything okay?_

It takes a few tense moments for her to send the paper back my way. The reply is in her usual, immaculate script.

 _yes, why do you ask?_

I frown again.

 _you've been avoiding me all day? Is this about last night?_

She sighs deeply when she reads my message, and doesn't reply for the next ten minutes.

 _yes. I don't think it is a good idea for us to be friends anymore._

 _look, I am so sorry for causing trouble with your dad, and I can understand why you're upset with me. Is breaking up really that necessary?_

Hinata looks at my reply, looks at me, drops it onto her books to do her work, then picks up the piece of paper again. She angrily shreds it in two the second the bell starts ringing for the end of the day.

"Goodbye, Tenten."

* * *

At the very heart of Konoha is a quaint little ramen place called Ichiraku's, where a certain blonde boy spends 80% of his time eating, and 10% pouring out his life story to Ayame, the owner's daughter.

When discount fries and burgers aren't, well, discounted, Hinata normally drags us into the stand for some hearty noodle gorging (and ogling, on her part). However, seeing as today is not a normal day, and prices are rising for fast food, _I'm_ the one dragging Temari into Ichiraku's.

Ayame gives us a huge smile when we enter, directing us to a cozy corner booth. Naruto looks up as well, throws us a wave, and goes back to his munching with... Hinata.

"I'm no expert on human behaviour or anything," Temari starts after settling herself into the chair, "but are you two fighting?"

I sigh. "No? I don't know? I think she's mad at me for last night."

She nods in silent understanding. "Did you apologise?"

"Yes!" A few of the other patrons give me startled glances when I slam my hand onto the table. "On paper," I admit quietly, "during Shimura's, and after she stormed out of class! Something must have happened to make her _that_ angry."

Sweet, sweet Hinata wouldn't even be remotely upset if someone broke her priceless porcelain doll collection - that's how much of a sweetheart she is!

"Well, you did go on a tangent about truffles to her crazy dad, _and_ indirectly demote her abilities in the eyes of the aforementioned crazy."

I cringed at Temari's blunt words. "I know that, but she didn't look unbelievably enraged at that point. What happened after I left?"

An uncertain expression passes across her face. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" I ask incredulously, "you were there!"

"Yes, and no. After you left last night, we just finished dinner - it was the tensest moment, like, ever - and the Hyugas kind of just... asked us to leave." She finishes off, thumbs twiddling. "So we did."

I sit back in my seat, glancing over to where the female Hyuga sat. "Just like that?" I whisper.

"Yeah."

We sit in a moody silence for a few minutes before Ayame walks over to take our orders. I force out a smile and point to a random item on the menu ("Temari?").

"What she's having," Temari replies. She trots away happily, leaving us to stew again.

A new figure makes their way to our booth. We both look up at the same time and-

 _Holy Hokage_.

I don't believe in miracles, or any form of mystic power, but if Monet's works come to life and have a love child with Da Vinci's sculptures, it would be Neji.

With the school-issued headband, and short hair. Which he's currently sporting as he gets closer and closer by the minute.

...

"Hi, Tenten."

"Neji," I squeak back, ignoring Temari's raucous laughter, "How are you, this fine, fine-"

" _Fine._ " Shut up, Temari.

"-evening?"

"I am well; thank you." He smiles politely, and it starts to resemble more of a devilish smirk now that his hair is sticking up at odd angles.

"That's...great." Cue the uncomfortable staring contest. I bite my lip. "Do you usually come here?"

"No," he states simply, "I am substituting for Yamato for now - Uncle is expecting him at the mansion." Temari cocks an eyebrow.

"So, why the head makeover?"

"It's...personal."

"We won't pry." I send Temari a pointed look; she responds with a hand motion towards my side of the booth.

"Take a seat, buddy, our food's coming soon."

He does as she says. "What did you order?"

Er. "Item number five, I think?" He throws me a questioning look, as though I should have known what I'd ordered. And, to be completely honest, we probably should.

"I think it was number fifty," Temari says with finality. A waiter pops up in the corner of my vision. "Ten bucks I'm right."

"You're on."

"Two vegetarian beef noodle plates for table six?"

"Which number is that?" Temari leans forward a bit too eagerly.

She frowns slightly while I confirm that indeed, we are number six. "It's item number one hundred and seven." We both slump back into our chairs.

Wait a minute.

"Vegetarian beef noodle plate?" The waiter nods impatiently. "Why does that even exist?"

"Ichiraku's experiments with a variety of flavours and constantly searches for dynamic palettes for the revitalised enjoyment of yours truly. Enjoy your meal." I look up at him for the first time, arguments ready to pour out of my lips, but he and his stupid spiky hairstyle are already hurrying away from our table.

Naruto turns around in his seat and signals the guy over to him; and as all meetings with the blonde go, they're already becoming friends. We grin stupidly, because even though he annoys us to the ends of the earth (Neji with more of an excuse than others) the guy really knows how to click with people.

Hinata swivels around in her's as well, gently greeting the scumbag waiter. Then she looks over at our booth, spots Temari, Neji and me in the same area and glowers angrily at us.

Sweet, sweet Hinata indeed.

* * *

 **Hey! I was planning on updating on New Year's Day, or earlier, but life caught up with me so I only just uploaded this chapter today. Thank you to all the people who have favourited/followed/reviewed - it means a lot. Happy New Year, and please provide feedback for this story by clicking the button below!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the love, you guys are the greatest! And I know, its been far too long since I last updated, so thanks for waiting it out too. That being said, I own nothing here - enjoy!**

* * *

Summer in Konoha, and by extension The Land Of Fire, is scorching hot - instantly fry an egg on a car roof hot.

Unsurprisingly, the climate is what earned the country it's name. One can walk down the street stark-naked and still be sweating buckets. During the winter.

I pull on the school-issued skirt and button-down blouse. Sweat starts pouring down my forehead in little droplets - unfortunately, Konoha Academy didn't think to allow lighter uniforms for the summer months.

The telephone in the next room rings loudly. I throw a tie over my shoulders and bring the phone into the bathroom.

"Hello?"

"Tenten? It's me." A boisterous voice echoes from the other end of the line, voice cracking at the last word. Ah, the beauty of puberty.

"Konohamaru! What's up, squirt?"

Konohamaru Sarutobi: cousin, notorious youngest member of the Sarutobi family, incurable prankster, certified mathematics dud, and Naruto's protege. It all ties together, thinking about it.

"Stop calling me that," he responds curtly, "Grandpa wants to know if you're coming home for dinner on Saturday."

I chuckle at his change in pitch. "Maybe, why?"

"What do you mean, why? It's the the Sarutobi Family Reunion dinner; everyone needs to be there ."

"Right, forgot." I stop talking to apply mascara onto my lashes - a skill that I sadly cannot master, despite Ino's extensive efforts. "I'll be there."

He sniffs appreciatively, which I take as a gracious thanks. "I kind of miss you." Konohamaru stutters at my cooing response. "K-KIND OF! Key word: kind of! It's not like I cry myself to sleep, or anything. No. Ew. Yuck. Men don't cry."

I can visualise him puffing his chest out the way he did to prove his 'manliness' as a kid. "Aww, I miss you too buddy. Don't sweat it, I'll see you in a few days and we can catch up while Gramps talks to the old folks."

He huffs. "The old man won't stop waking me up before the crack of dawn for training. I'm going mad, and I think my muscles are growing muscles now! And you know what's annoying? He says that you woke up by yourself and at 4am exactly, and expects me to get up at least an hour earlier!"

I run a brush through my hair, leaving my signature buns for later. "What can I say? I'm a woman of many talents."

He cackles into the speaker. "Oh, please. Even Little Miss Perfect can't visit her family without tearing up."

I freeze on my way to the small living area, school books balancing precariously in one arm. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, come on," he starts off defiantly, but falters towards the end, "You never visit, and when you do it's always so tense and..." Konohamaru lets out a shaky sigh. "I miss him too. Uncle Asuma. Every day."

"He's dead." It takes every fibre of my being to keep my tone cool. "I miss my dad, too, but he's not coming back. It's time to move on."

The line silences for a few seconds. I lean back into the wall, pinching the bridge of my nose while blinking back tears. Enough have already been spilt, but that reasoning does nothing to stop them from tumbling out. The clock ticks.

"You should start listening to your own advice, Tenten." He stammers this out in between whimpers.

I open my mouth again, this time my voice comes out croaky. "You know why I don't live with you guys anymore. I just need more time to myself."

"No, no you don't," he shouts back angrily, "You had plenty of that for months!" A sob, and a few shaky breaths later, he speaks up again. "I just want my cousin back."

The line muffles for a split second, and light crying can be heard from the other end. There's a pregnant pause.

"I know."

* * *

Note to self: never leave a make-up-job-gone-awry-possibly-due-to-tears-after-an-emotional-phone-call alone. Especially on a hot summer day - then it goes from ugly to just plain uncomfortable.

Mascara runs swiftly down my face, accumulating in whirlpools at my chin. I run out of my apartment building, uncharacteristically avoiding the neighbouring ramen stall owners' greetings, before a car pulls up beside me and - lo and behold, Neji Hyuga, in all his glory.

"My god, you look like a rabid panda."

I hiss venomously. "Beat it, princess, I'm not in the mood to humour you." He looks concerned for a split second, but masks it with a smirk. It suits his slicked back hair, giving off the impression of a devilish spirit rather than a pompous prat.

"Why, Tenten, how you wound me."

Groaning, I throw my hands up into the air. "Why are you being so annoying? Do you need a new attitude? "

"I assure you, mine is in working order." He chuckles when I glare at him. "Would you like me to drive you to school? You can fix up your make up on the way."

I look at him closely. To be rational, Neji is a ridiculously reliable person who, despite how uptight he is, is quite amicable and benevolent. Plus, he has a car and I have a bag that weighs more than an anvil.

After very little deliberation, I buckle myself into the passenger seat and shut my eyes.

"Are you sure you're not removing your, uh."

"Statement art." I finish off his sentence, triumphantly noting his uncommon use of a filler word. I flutter my lashes in rapid succession, faltering slightly at the stickiness of the mascara. "Haven't you heard? Statement is the new sexy."

Neji rolls his eyes, but says nothing until we reach the Academy. This suits me just fine, however, because lately I haven't been therapeutically confiding in my level-headed best friend Hinata due to her warranted hatred of me. Granted, Neji probably isn't all that happy to be my new confidante, but he's there and I'm in his car. We're practically girlfriends now.

"Thank you for the trip, kind sir. Carry my bags?" Neji grimaces a little.

"You're the taekwondo captain, Tenten, I'm sure you're more than capable of handling your own baggage."

I sling it over my shoulder in annoyance. Physical baggage, definitely so. Emotional? Still a long road. Smirking, he tightens his headband. It looks good on him: not loose and sloppy like Naruto's, but straight and immaculately pressed.

How very Neji.

I trudge into the school's front garden, taken slightly aback at it's unkempt nature. One normally walks through the gates and sees a vast, perfectly-manicured landscape with lovely evergreens lining the side of the main walkway and resplendent topiaries artfully on display in different places on the lawn. Today, however, is evidently not a day of emotional or physical stability as all of the plants look wilted and withered and...wizened. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's a fired gardener.

"Maybe it's Maybelline."

Neji shoots me a weird look out of the corner of his eye. "What?"

"The garden looks worse than my make up. Haven't you noticed?"

Not quite following on from my previous statement, he nods. "Yes, I did just point that out a few minutes ago."

I blink, stopping when we reach the steps leading to the front door. It's a rich, polished sort of mahogany - not high tech enough for the school of a spy capital, in my opinion. Ex-spy capital. Same principle, right? "I'm sorry, were you saying something?"

He chuckles, and opens the front door for me instead of storming off in frustration like Ino does. Hinata usually doesn't mind it when I space out. Then again, she's not particularly minding me at all as of late.

My life is a mess.

"Tenten?" Neji's concerned face appears in front of me, eyebrows furrowing. "What's wrong?"

Smiling lightly, I wipe at the mascara under my eyes, probably smudging it even more. Seconds away from rudely storming off in frustration, he hands me a makeup wipe. There isn't a single hint of embarrassment on his face.

At my grateful acceptance of the wipe, and more or less questionable expression, he shrugs. "Hinata sometimes needs them after a tough morning, if you catch my drift."

It's official. If standing at the entrance of a rich, pompous school with a boy who is quite possibly _the_ most rich and pompous of all and scrubbing every trace of make up off your face, regardless of whether a loud blonde trio plus Mr Rich and Pompous's cousin show up in the middle of it, isn't mortifying, then I don't know what is.

Luckily, said pomp happens to be a master of damage control, so he insists. "Tenten scraped her knee, so she's wiping off her makeup." Or. Not?

Temari cocks her head to the side. Ino looks confused and dubious - cubious? Hinata brushes past us with an oblivious Naruto in tow and a heated expression.

"I see." They reply in unison before linking their arms with mine in a death grip. "Bathroom pit stop; don't wait up, handsome." Ino waggles her fingers cheekily at Neji, who seems to be torn between amusement and bewilderment. Temari all but kicks open the door with her (illegal - in school anyway) high heels and flies us to the nearest bathroom.

I wrench my arms out of their grasps as soon as we barrage through the doors, wincing. "What are you two, The Incredible She-Hulks?"

"We do our best." Temari smirks. Ino rolls her eyes and 'reapplies my face', as she so humourlessly puts it.

* * *

"Pink alert: hottie has entered our domain." Temari nudges me repeatedly - _un-subtly_ , might I add - when Jiraiya merrily introduces two new exchange students into class. I slap her elbow away.

"What do you use on those? Knife sharpeners?"

Ino's hair jumps into our conversation. "That's ridiculous, Tennie," she scowls, "Everyone _knows_ they're made of metal."

"Girls, if you're going to fight, at least make it physical." Jiraiya calls out our conversation from the front of the room, slightly creepy smile on his face. Why is he still working here? I should start a petition to get him fired.

"Now, seeing as these three were _not_ paying attention earlier, I'd like to welcome Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. They're exchange students from our sister school in Suna."

Temari replaces her elbow with her foot the moment Jiraiya's hand gestures to a dark haired boy standing confidently at the front of the classroom.

His eyes travel across the room as the biology teacher rambles on about school values, and whatnot, before landing on our table.

For someone who supposedly transferred from Suna, he's remarkably pale, and has deep, black hair to boot. That's a colour palette someone expects from someone who lives in colder climates, not where the sun is more blazing than Konoha's during the summer. The only aspects of his face that are Suna-typical are his eyes - coal-black and riddled with suspicion.

A sudden urge to run up and embrace him overwhelms me, and I have to pinch myself to make it go away.

"Wow..." Ino whispers in front of us. "He's so..."

"Sculpted." Temari finishes.

He and Sakura sit at the front desk as per Jiraiya's request. Temari decides to allocate observation times for his ramrod straight back(side) - "it's not creeping, you nun" - with half-hourly intervals between her and Ino.

"You," they give me a pointed look, "already have Neji. He's ours."

"First of all, I don't _have_ Neji. He's just a...n acquaintance of mine. Don't give me that look. And, you don't even know the guy! Why are you planning out your wedding?" Ino, hissing, covers the beginning sketches of a wedding dress.

"Because, roses are in season!"

"They're always in season for you." Temari points out flatly.

"That doesn't even make sense." I add.

"You know what else doesn't make sense?" Temari replies, grin stretching out from ear to ear, "why you were in the car with Neji. From what Hinata tells us, he doesn't let anyone in his car unless it's an emergency."

Ino grabs her books and pounces over to sit at our table. Jiraiya continues to prattle on about specific parts of the human body. Thankfully, biology with him is the one class students can get away with misbehaving in - hence it's popularity. "Yeah, what's with that? I thought you two were just 'acquaintances'." She uses air quotes at the end, smirking.

"I liked you better over there, bimbo."

"I'm going nowhere, Tonton." She smiles wickedly. "And, stop avoiding the question."

"He saw me walking to school, said I looked like a dead panda, then gave me a lift. End of story."

"That's not what he told me," Temari remarks skeptically. The class silences. We look up.

"Life," Jiraiya starts, "A true mystery. Today, we uncover the true story behind reproduction, and the-"

The class resumes it's usual habit of ignoring his repetitive sex-ed lectures - save for the Sunese exchange students, who look positively revolted yet remain silent.

"What did he say?" I demand.

"Well," she shrugs, "Nothing at all, actually. He just grunted and did his work."

I roll my eyes. "Yes, how romantic."

"-Sasuke!"

The entire female population in the classroom cranes their necks to look at Sasuke. Kin looks like she's about to faint.

"Yes, sir?" He replies, deep voice and all. Temari swoons.

"It's your lucky day." And proceeds to fire off what seems like a million questions about sexual intercourse from a 'purely scientific perspective, of course'. Sasuke answers them fluidly and in rapid succession.

There's a triumphant look on his face when the questions stop and it's quite literally the only emotion I've seen him express for the past half hour. Speaking of which.

"Your turn, Spiky." Ino dutifully looks down at the same time Temari hungrily, savagely, fixates her gaze on Sasuke.

"Whatever happened to being your own woman and not needing a man?"

Temari shakes her head at my grumbling, never taking her eyes off the Uchiha prodigy the entire time. "Being a woman, Tenten, isn't that black and white. It's about being able to find your own happiness and living a life that you deserve. And besides," she spares me a split second glance, "He has a nice butt."

"My god."

* * *

Two words: Yamanaka Residence. Two more words: Sakura Haruno.

Ino's room is eclectic, and littered with an assortment of whimsical knick-knacks collected from garage sales and op shops, as well as some of her own creations. They're quite beautiful, and she has a great eye for interior decorating because the space doesn't look as cluttered as it should.

Sakura meekly sits on a bright, flame coloured sofa when Ino ushers us into her room. Her face falls even further when Temari fixes a scrutinising gaze onto her face.

"Cut it out."

"What?" She says, affronted. But she knows what I'm referring to, and stops. "She's my love rival."

Ino rolls her eyes. "By all means, whisper. So, Sakura, these are the meatheads I was talking about earlier."

We curtsy in synchronisation, not even bothering to feel offended. "Tenten, senior meathead." "Temari, professional wind-breaker."

Sakura flushes the colour of her hair. "Sakura Haruno, it's a pleasure to meet you?" She extends an arm nervously, painfully aware of Temari's judgemental expression.

There's a strange moment of silence where Temari finally decides to act like a decent human being, and shake her hand like it's no big deal.

"Welcome to our crew."

Oh, I _do not_ like her smile.

Ino notices too, but ignores it. Suddenly, I realise what they're trying to do: eliminate the enemy. It's all too obvious now.

"So," I drawl out slowly, catching their attention, "what brings you into town, Sakura?"

She perks up. "My parents are doctors, and just recently got a job at the one here. We decided that it would be more economical if everyone moved. Besides," her mildly sullen expression brightens, "I like it here. In Suna, there was so much sand that you had to wear goggles just to walk down the street!"

Temari and Ino listen attentively, letting out the occasional hum in agreement. "My family lives in Suna, too," Temari speaks up, a genuine look of interest on her face, "I moved here for business reasons, so I guess we're in the same boat."

It isn't wrong; her two brothers still live in Suna with her dad, who essentially kicked her out of town for the sake of establishing a Sabaku branch in Konoha. She doesn't take it too personally, strangely, but there are moments when Temari zones out and sits in a vegetative state for a while. I know she's hurting inside, underneath the layers of female empowerment and inner strength.

The animosity in the air dissipates rapidly with their random spurt of bonding. Within moments, Ino all but jumps on Sakura and demands details on Sasuke.

"I honestly don't know who he is." Sakura places two hands on either side of her head in a placating gesture. "He was a bit of a loner in Suna - kept to himself most of the time. Honestly, you guys aren't the first to obsess over him. Most of the female population did, at some point in their lives."

Their twin expressions are so coy and unassuming that I almost believe them.

"I don't even remember speaking to him before entering Jiraiya's class, and that was only a 'good luck'. He's hot," she adds hesitantly, "but kind of...eerie."

"How so?" Ino pipes up, "I mean, I get the whole silent angle, but isn't he just broody?"

Sakura shakes her head vehemently. "There's a difference between brooding-silent and eerie-silent. It always feels like he's hiding something, or knows something scary that no one else does." Her apple-green eyes widen when she finishes off her sentence.

Temari is the kind of girl who thirsts for the feel of wind whipping past her ears and licks her lips at the sight of danger, so it's unsurprising that she's completely unfazed by Sasuke's potentially-psychopathic tendencies. "I like mysterious men. It's a challenge!"

"First impressions aren't always accurate," Ino starts diplomatically, throwing me an apple, "Eat. There's paranoia written all over your face."

"He sounds like a ticking time bomb," I take a bite into the apple, as per her stern glare, "And what's your plan, anyway? Stalk him into oblivion?"

"No," they reply flatly, "stalking is for amateurs."

"Right, 'operating covertly' then." Simultaneous grins are shot back. "Just don't get yourself arrested. I've heard about how rich he is."

Sakura guffaws. "Wading in cash is a better way to put it - the Uchihas owned half of Suna's businesses before he moved. And get this," we all move closer to her, "Of all the mansions and penthouses he could've chosen when he moved here, he chose that dinky little building next to a ramen stall." Her giggling is met with stunned silence. MY building is the only living complex next to a ramen stall, AND it's dinky - something Temari and Ino are achingly aware of. We all share a quizzical glance.

Sasuke Uchiha, child billionaire, prodigy, Sunagakure gene lottery and potential psychopath... is my new neighbour?

Things just got more interesting around here.

* * *

 **R &R, please!**

 **~misspandalily**


	5. Chapter 4

**It's pretty strange that this story seems to be getting updated more frequently that my first one is, and for those of you who are still waiting, I refined all of the earlier chapters already and there's some inconsequential changes that you might want to read. Anyway, thanks to all the favourites, follows and reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: Unforunately, I don't own anything.**

* * *

Temari narrows her eyes at the screen when she types Ichiraku's Ramen into the search bar, waiting for the result to pop up. She hurriedly opens up street view with the click of a button, and we all crowd around the computer even though we frequent the area (and, my home) at least twice a week.

Ino pushes Temari aside, pointing a manicured finger at my apartment complex. She looks over at Sakura, who's scrutinising the screen carefully. "Here?"

"Oh, yeah," her pink hair bounces when she nods in affirmation, "that's the place. Isn't it gross?"

She's met with an awkward silence. I scratch the back of my head while scrunching up my face. "Well you're not wrong..."

Ino claps her hands together gleefully, electing to gloss over Sakura's statement. "I say we hold a sleepover tomorrow," she links an arm around Sakura's and gives the girl a wink, "for your initiation ceremony."

"What? At Sasuke's?" Her eyes widen to the size of golf balls. "Isn't that illegal?"

Temari waves her questions off merrily. "Nonsense! We'll go to Tenten's! In fact, let's head over right now."

"Absolutely not," I shake my head for reiteration and dismiss the pouts with an eye roll. "We have a maths test tomorrow, and I'm not risking another detention just for faili - oh, _shit_." I collapse onto Ino's bed miserably. They give me confused glances. "It's Wednesday."

As if waiting for a cue, Shikamaru jumps out from the shadows and leans on the doorframe, tie slung carelessly over his shoulder and an unmistakably dried trail of drool still stuck on his face. He nods a greeting at his cousin, and Temari, and shoots me a knowing smirk.

"I skipped detention."

The whine in my voice actually manages to make him laugh.

* * *

Unlocking a door after an annoyingly long day of tears, stress and after-after-hours detention, as it turns out, is an extremely difficult task for many reasons.

Here's why:

The phone starts ringing _before_ I can even pull the key out of my backpack, so everything from the extra textbooks in my hands to the heavy weight on my back has to be dropped unceremoniously into the ground for me to answer the call.

It's Grandpa Hiruzen, who's so bad at working with technology that _Konohamaru_ has to work part time in his office just for the computer, and he's furious. Apparently the school has an extremely efficient notification policy, and seeing as he's my legal guardian, and the Mayor, it's a double lecture for me.

When all that is well and truly over, it takes about three hours (okay, so maybe five minutes tops) to remove all the contents of my bag to locate the keys which were IN MY BLAZER POCKET THE ENTIRE TIME. So I calmly, elegantly, scream out in frustration, prompting the one other resident who lives down the hall to open their door in shock.

Life is wildly cruel, and unfair, because the very same Sasuke Uchiha we'd been talking about hours earlier just so happens to live down the hall and happens to possess a very nicely sculpted set of cheekbones.

"Oh." I stammer out awkwardly, picking up the piles of books littering the floor, "hello. Did I disturb you?"

He scratches the back of his head, revealing a pained expression. "No-" he starts off politely, then thinks otherwise, "Yes. I was studying. For Professor Shimura's test tomorrow." He turns his gaze downwards to where a tampon box was open and revealing it's contents. I don't swallow my pride, shamelessly acting like that's perfectly _not_ disturbing. It's not. We all live in the 21st century. "Do you need any help?"

I shake my head. "No, no, I should be fine. The door's right here any- okay..." My refusal trails off when he picks up the books _and_ the tampon box with ease, raising an impatient eyebrow at me. "You really didn't have to." He doesn't reply and decides to focus all of his energy into burning a hole through the door. Eerie, indeed.

I slam the key into the lock ( _finally_ ) and lead him inside with the rest of my items in tow. It's messy, which is sadly typical, making me wish that my underwear could stay in the bedroom for once. Sasuke places the books on the breakfast bar and thankfully focuses on the books in front of him only.

"Do you want a drink?"

"No, I have one at home." Right, I forgot. He makes his way towards the door briskly, like he cannot wait to get the hell out of my apartment. Honestly, I really don't blame him.

"Sasuke, thank you," I say this gratefully when he reaches the door. Sasuke turns back, opens his mouth in contemplation, and slams it shut before levelling his gaze with mine.

"No problem, Tenten."

* * *

 _You mouth his name silently, feeling the blood drain from your face when he nimbly climbs through the window. How did he sneak past the guards?_

 _"Why are you here?"_

 _He pointedly ignores your question and attempts to draw you in for an embrace. You curl your lips up into a snarl and push him back. He jumps back in shock; you don't miss the hurt in his eyes._

 _"Remove that mask and answer me!" You hiss out, careful not to alert anyone to the man's presence. He removes the black cloth covering his lower face._

 _"I am here for you." He slowly, cautiously, edges closer towards you and you don't stop him. The man plants a soft kiss on your lips while saying your name over and over again, like a never ending mantra. "I've missed you."_

 _Light footsteps patter around outside your door, bringing you back to your senses. You push him away again, this time standing up and stalking over to the other side of your chambers. The betrothal necklace on your dressing table glints at you suspiciously._

 _"Leave," you command, "I am a married woman."_

 _"Not yet," he fires back, anger creeping into his voice, "You don't love him, I know it. You know it." His voice begins to crack, "Please. Come with me. We can live in the mountains, like before. Start a new life together. You, and me."_

 _You swivel around to face him furiously. "No! I have a duty to fulfil to my father, and my country. Our country." You straighten your posture to level with him. "I refuse to run away from the people who need me."_

 _He scoffs, narrowing his eyes at you. "That never stopped you before! The woman I met two years ago would have done anything to run away from the palace! How badly did they brainwash you?"_

 _You slap him angrily, and the exhilaration you feel doing this frightens you for all the wrong reasons. He notices this, and smirks. "There you are." He places a finger over your heart, just above the area were your breasts lie, heaving heavily. "I know you're still there, my love, deep down."_

 _"And even deeper down," you retort coolly, "Is a woman who is tired of running." He steps back again, face falling at the implied message. "Every one grows up, my Lord, and it's time you did too. Leave the Jade Palace; if you return, I'll see to it that your head is given to the Emperor on a silver platter."_

 _He doesn't call your obvious bluff, and covers his face again before jumping out of the window with a melancholy droop to his shoulders._

 _The next morning, you sleepily wake up to see a familiar looking fan resting on top of your necklace._

* * *

"You look like a herd of elephants stampeded all over your face and asked the monkeys to iron out your uniform."

I glower at Neji when we take a seat next to Lee, who was waving us over frantically a few minutes ago. He returns my look with a shrug of his shoulders. It's still weird - not to mention random - seeing Neji start to jump out of his conservative shell and turn into a wittier, more reserved version of Naruto. With better grades and a polished appearance, so maybe not quite like Naruto. I'm honestly drawing these parallels because of the headbands.

"It's true."

"Indeed!" Lee inserts himself into the conversation energetically. "You are looking significantly less enthused than usual, Tenten, I suggest you run three hundred laps around the oval with me after school. It really boosts up your energy levels!"

I squeeze my eyes shut in annoyance. "Thank you Lee, you're a darling but I'll pass for today."

Lee shrugs. "Your loss, dear daffodil."

"Perhaps you could reserve that for the taekwondo try outs after school, just to get the team warmed up." Neji suggests with a malicious smirk that Lee clearly misses. I give him the stink eye.

"An excellent idea! I'll bring this up with Mr Gai right away!" He dashes off to the gym, leaving me to continue giving Neji dirty looks.

"You're pushing it."

"Break a leg."

"I'm considering it," I reply, almost - almost - genuinely. He shoots back an aye-aye captain, no doubt taking great joy in my inevitable three hundred laps. "Oh, by the way," an email I remember receiving last night pops up in my memory, "Gai emailed me, saying that your uncle placed a recommendation for you to join the team today." Neji's shoulders stiffen before he drops his fork onto the plate. It lands in the spaghetti Bolognese with a squelch, sinking in the same way my statement does.

"So that means-"

"Oh, yeah," I lean forward in faux-enthusiasm, placing my chin in my hand and smiling up at Neji's shell-shocked expression, "Right after last period, I'll give you a warm welcome to your first three hundred laps around the school." He meets my gaze, and only then do I notice how close our faces are. Coughing pointedly, I sit back, ignoring the beet-red flush forming at my cheeks. So damn hot.

His mortification quickly melts away when he realises that his fork is gone, and politely excuses himself to grab a new one.

"Tenten." I nearly jump out of my seat when Sasuke's voices calls me from behind. I hastily wipe the spaghetti sauce away with a napkin before turning around to face him. He's standing next to Naruto passionlessly while the blonde looks over at us curiously. That's when it hits me: Sasuke's the rude Ichiraku's server from the other day.

"Yes?" I blink innocently.

"Is there any spare space on your table?" I look around me. It's mostly comprised of the team members and late stragglers, plus Neji now, so the only seat left is...oh. _Lee_.

"Well..." I start hesitantly.

"Uchiha, a pleasure to see you again. How have you been?" Neji returns with a new fork, analysing the scene before him with an unnervingly cold gaze.

Sasuke nods stiffly as a reply, eyes hardening when he registers Neji's presence. "Fine enough." Neji doesn't seem to care that Sasuke doesn't follow through with the small talk and sits down to eat without another word. Okay, awkward. They really don't seem to like each other. Naruto and Sasuke look at me expectantly.

"Well," then I notice _Ino_ looking at me expectantly from a few tables over, her eyes flitting from Sasuke to the multiple seats across from her, Hinata, Sakura and Temari, "Lee's coming back to finish off lunch, soon." A blatant lie, he never comes back for lunch because Gai always has curry. "But that table over there has two extra seats?" They look at where I'm pointing, and thankfully Naruto's immediately open to the idea because, hey, his girlfriend is there. Ino shoots me a grateful grin, and a thumbs up when they turn back to me.

"Thanks Tennie, we owe you one."

"See you around, Tenten."

Neji coughs beside me. "You know him?"

I nod slowly, slurping up my pasta like an animal. Funny how I'm less inclined to look pretty in front of Neji. Then again, he's seen me in various states of distress, so it really doesn't matter anymore. "Yeah, he lives down the hall from me." His grip tightens for a split second, then relaxes. "Do you?"

Neji grimaces. "I occasionally accompany my uncle to business meetings, to 'get a feel of the field'. Uchiha was there on the latest one with his father, so we were encouraged - for lack of a better word - to spend time together." His expression morphs into one of disgust when he glances over at Ino's table. "Not a very pleasant person."

I look over with him and see Yamato standing sentry next to Hinata, pointedly glaring at Naruto, while Sasuke makes his discomfort around the four girls evident. "He seems okay," I reply thoughtfully, "helped me carry my books into the apartment yesterday."

Neji shrugs distantly, shoving another load of food into his mouth. "Actions don't always reflect a person's true nature, Tenten."

* * *

For the first time ever, my friends actually show up to taekwondo try outs as active participants, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it isn't for moral support. I guess they didn't get the memo about running laps, though, because they don't look discouraged at all.

We congregate in the dojo situated a few hundred meters away from the oval, in a clearing surrounded by neatly-maintained trees. It's one of the more prestigious clubs in the Academy, hence the prime on-campus location. I remember being awestruck on my first visit, because the last dojo I was in was essentially a gym, as was every other normal dojo in Konoha. It's an intimidating school, with its extravagant displays of wealth and prestige, and it takes a lot of getting used to for everyone.

I count the heads in front of me. Most of the original team left after graduating last year, so our numbers have dwindled down to a meagre three people: me, Lee, and Naruto. With only seven spots left, and about thirty others in the dojo, it's going to take a massive load of elimination rounds to gain the exact number that we need. I step forward, easily spotting my friends in the crowd. Then again, with hair as pink as Sakura's, its impossible _not_ to.

Clearing my throat, I start off with introductions. "Hi." There's a sudden murmur in the crowd, and I see Neji and Sasuke sizing each other up ominously. I put my fingers in my mouth and let out a shrill whistle that catches everyone's attention. "Thank you. I'm Tenten, the team captain, and these two are Lee and Naruto, my vice captains." They grin enthusiastically. "As you all know, we only have seven spaces left, and another two for subs. That means only nine of the thirty here will gain a place on this team when the day is over. I suggest showing us three the full array of your abilities today, and remember that everyone's an equal here - I don't care whose family you come from, or how well you sponsor the Academy, because ultimately we will be competing agains the best of the best, and there'll only be room for people who are determined and willing to make sacrifices to improve." I look at my friends pointedly. " _No one_ will be selected based on his or her relationship with the three of us. If you are, at any point, heavily inclined to drop out of try outs, the door is that way - be my guest."

When I conclude and step back, Naruto clasps his glee as Lee starts nodding over and over again. Round one: scare them away. "Now, let's do a quick four hundred laps around oval!"

The numbers quickly decrease to fifteen in a matter of seconds. It's a tactic that the captains have been using since before Lee and I tried out together - a brutal way of scaring away lily-livered dunderheads within the first few minutes. Obviously, Lee actually feels a sense of euphoria running around the oval, and succeeded in shocking the captains when he _actually did_ run five hundred laps instead of the twenty. I see Neji smirk from the corner of my vision, and count down the heads again. Neji and Sasuke (surprising no one). Temari. Ino. Sakura. Hinata. Kiba, oh god. Choji and Shikamaru, probably at Ino's insistence. Sai, Omoi and Karui, three juniors. Shino, Hinata's gardening friend. Kin, of all people. After a few warm-up stretches and thirty laps (Neji subtly let out a sigh of relief), we meet back in the dojo again.

Naruto takes over, commencing round two - the sparring round robin. We separate everyone into pairs and pit them up against each other while we scrutinise their skills. Temari beats down Kin in a matter of seconds, eliminating Kin, who honestly didn't put up much of a fight, then promptly hands Shika's ass to him in the next round. Shino and Kiba battle it out bravely, and _Shino_ is the one to make it through even though most of his time is spent dodging Kibbles' attacks. Neji, in a valiant display of skills and adept fighting, rises above Choji and Sai effortlessly, and Ino, in true team vs team fashion, drops like, a million moves onto Hinata, who barely scrapes her way through that match. In the end, it's Neji, Sasuke, Temari, Sakura, Sai and Karui who make it onto the team (even though they don't know it yet), so we start the third round after a quick break to determine the final three members we want.

"So," I say chirpily, "We've already decided on six team members." Their eyes widen curiously. "Now, only three places remain and as a final demonstration of your abilities to us, try your best in this last round. Keep in mind that you will all be participating regardless of whether you're on the team or not, and this match can still lend a considerable amount of weight towards our decisions. Each and everyone one of you will be fighting against Lee." Several groans resonate throughout the room. I frown. "It's simple. Land a hit, and you might just get a position." Everyone perks up, grabbing onto my bait immediately. Clearly, no one seems to remember just how evasive Lee can be.

Everyone is blind-folded to prevent any cheating or unfair analyses from happening. Neji goes first, and the moment we remove his blindfold, he pounces on Lee like a snake. Needless to say, it's probably the quickest landing on record. Sasuke and Temari are similar in the way that they both blink to adjust their eyes to the light, then Lee's sporadic movements. It takes a few minutes for them to realise that his hair is his biggest weakness, because it flies everywhere when he moves. They grab hold of it and use it to gently tap on his arm - victory. Everyone else, save for Kiba, Omoi and Ino, completely fails, leaving us with three new members and potential re-considerations of our current one.

The refined list is up on the central bulletin by the time Friday morning hits, and we beam at each other when a bustling crowd gathers around the notice. A job well done, indeed.

 _Neji Hyuga. Sasuke Uchiha. Sai Satoshi. Omoi Kawamoto. Karui Komatsu. Temari no Sabaku. Sakura Haruno._ Substitute members: _Kiba Inuzuka. Ino Yamanaka._

* * *

 **It actually took a few weeks just to get the first part of this story out of my brain, and roughly five hours to do the rest of it (which was pretty much my night last night). The characters without surnames (Sai, Karui, Omoi) were given surnames based off the Japanese voice actors who voiced them, so I thought it was a nice touch. They kind of have a nice ring to them as well, even though Sai is technically a Yamanaka now, and Karui is an Akimichi (spoilers, sorry!).**

 **Thanks for reading, and please leave a review to let me know about any errors or lapses in judgement, or just to talk. Any is fine!**

 **\- misspandalily**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey! I forgot to reply to some Guest reviews earlier on, so they'll be done in the AN at the bottom.**

 **Special thanks to: Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest and Giada Luna for reviewing!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

"Neji."

"Tenten." Neji replies with a nod, and proceeds to extract a particularly hefty encyclopaedia from his backpack. Pressing it against the bottom of a locker with his knee, he withdraws a set of keys and jams it into the lock. He looks down, then back up at me. "Can you..."

"Oh, right. Sure thing." I heave the encyclopaedia into my arms while Neji neatly hangs his bag on a hook inside the locker. I hand it back. "A bit of light reading?"

He smirks, light eyes glancing at me sideways. "We're starting on Japanese history for Revolutions. I'd borrowed this from the library just this morning." He opens it up to the back page, waving away the clouds of dust that fly out from in between the pages. "Although it seems that I'm only the second person who's borrowed it."

"Only?" I ask, incredulously, "Who's the first person?"

"I. U., 1983."

"Mazel Tov."

"Thanks," he tosses it onto a shelf, grabs a few textbooks from the locker, and slams it shut. "Isn't your locker on the other side of the school?"

It isn't a reproachful tone. "English," I reply, noticing Hinata ambling towards Neji morosely, "I just saw you here on my way over." She sees me standing beside him, frowns, then turns around and walks away. Ouch.

I watch him comb a hand through his hair, which is starting to fall just below his eyebrows. It's not slicked back, as is the Neji-norm, but scruffier and less...refined.

"Indeed," his voice trails off when he sees his cousin at the classroom door, "Excuse me." He walks over to Hinata with a hint of concern on his features. I watch tears glaze over her eyes when he addresses her in a low tone, and step back. Whatever the conflict is, the last thing I want to do is get involved again.

* * *

The bells rings seconds after both Neji and Hinata walk down the corridor and into the nearest classroom, presumably Lit, since it's the only class they have together aside from Chem. By the time I arrive at the classroom, Ms Yuuhi is already writing up today's agenda on the whiteboard in perfect calligraphy, and Ino greets me from her seat at the front. I stride over, wincing from the pain that shoots up my leg when I take a faulty step.

Incidentally, being a couch potato for two months before resuming back-breaking, Rock Lee-standard exercise is probably the worst decision I've ever made. My leg muscles are aching from the strenuous exercise, and there's a nasty bruise on my bicep from where Lee punched me during a sparring match.

Ino, who makes a point of jogging every morning and gymming every second day, agrees.

"No pain no gain, Tennie," she bites into an apple and chews it thoroughly. "You're doing your body a favour."

"Sure."

"Good morning," Ms Yuuhi greets us cordially, "please take out your books." She pulls her out her own copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four, front cover flawlessly laminated with coloured tabs on the side and immaculate annotations on every page.

I take out a battered copy that's probably dating back to whenever it was published, probably the sixties, and open the first page carefully. It decides to stop hanging on to the spine for dear life and flutters down to the table top.

"That book looks like it's seen better days." Ino, who's still eating her apple fervently, bites down on it and rearranges her books. "I forgot mine today. Care to share?"

"Sharing is caring," I mumble agreeably, "I didn't know that we were allowed to eat in class."

"Yeah, it's a real struggle. Woe is the day that social order is challenged by the plenty. Or, something like that."

"Brecht?"

"Yamanaka," she responds without missing a beat.

"Detention." A voice calls out to them from the front. Our backs stiffen. "Potentially, if you don't keep quiet until next period."

So we put our heads down obediently and read passages from the dilapidated novel in succession, carefully turning each page and annotating it with careful pen strokes. Note to self: buy a new book before this one crumbles.

"Class dismissed. Tenten, if I could have a quick word with you?"

The bell rings immediately after she finishes speaking, leaving me stranded in the middle of a classroom, friendless and somewhat confused.

I haven't played hooky in a while now, nor have I ever stepped out of line enough to warrant a Speaking To.

"Yes, Ms Yuuhi?"

She smiles, simultaneously writing out a note on a slip of paper and handing it over. "For your next teacher. I just wanted to touch base with you, see if there were any troubles going on now that you're living away from home."

The eggshells crack. "With all due respect, or none at all, Kurenai, that's none of your concern."

"Tenten," she says, a little more firmly. "Your well being is my utmost concern; I promised to take care of you when-"

"Forget about it. I can take care of myself."

Fact file: Kurenai Sarutobi, née Yuuhi. Former high school sweetheart then second wife of Sarutobi, Asuma - AKA, my dad.

Why the hostility?

It's hard not to be, especially when she's so _nice_.

"Tenten. You need to eliminate any animosity you harbor towards me for your own sake. It's unhealthy to continue this rebellious streak so persistently." She's calm and composed, and it grates on my nerves that she looks completely sympathetic the entire way through.

"Sure," I reply, "I'll stop. When my dad comes back from the grave, and when my mother comes back from avoiding my existence like the plague."

She shuts up, but only momentarily. "It's unhealthy to hold on to this much anger."

"I'm not angry. Just disappointed."

"Why are you disappointed?"

I take a step back, realising that my frustration is starting to ebb away and her sympathetic, _understanding_ gaze is starting to hit home and _feel_ like home. I don't need this.

"No," my books start to tumble out of my arms when I rush towards the classroom door, "Nope. We are not heading down this path."

She remains in her seat, patient and radiating kindness. Damn her. "I'll be here when you need me, Tenten. Always."

* * *

To my credit, no tears leak out of my eyes when I run to the Chemistry room, or when I slam open the door and hand over the note to Mr Umino (who smiles the perpetually-kind smile he always has on his face), or even when I'm assigned to the same lab group as Hinata and Neji (poor, unassuming Mr Umino, who thinks we're all the best of friends, is too nice to teach. Seriously.) and not even when some hydrochloric acid spills onto the newly-laundered blouse I'm wearing underneath the lab coat.

Yeah, it doesn't seem too bad now, but when you're living on your own and paying for seventy percent of the bills and working at a small restaurant periodically, you'd cry too.

Umino walks by our lab bench minutes after my whole fiasco, in which water had to be splashed over the front of my shirt to dilute the acid, and smiles kindly again. He's blissfully unaware of the hostile glares that Hinata's throwing at me behind her safety goggles, and of the awkward glances that Neji's throwing in our direction. The third member of our group is, coincidentally, Kibbles. Kiba. The sub.

He chuckles when we completely fail at obtaining the right colour change and calmly instructs us on how to correctly perform a titration. I like to think that I could care less, when there are so many more problems I need to deal with, but clearly I'm kidding myself. The work starts to consume me the way it does when I wholly dedicate myself to a task, and I listen to his words with acute ears.

"Then, when the first permanent colour change appears, you twist the knob shut and record your data values from the bottom," he claps his hands together merrily, "I suggest you four split into two groups and work faster from this point onwards. The other tables have already progressed much further than yours." He spots us avoiding each other's eyes like no tomorrow, then smirks. "Hinata and Tenten, you two should split off together. You're much quieter than usual these days." He drifts off at the last sentence and returns to his empathetic and pleasant expression, then walks away. I take it back. Clearly, he's working for Danzo.

We divide ourselves obediently, mainly because Umino keeps coming back to our table and tut-tutting every time he sees how inefficiently we're working and saying reverse-inspirational comments like, "Hinata, Tenten! I expect more from the two of you!"

Hinata refuses to look at me, when I ask her for the data values, when I tell her that the colour's already changed permanently, and when I ask Neji to ask her to stop avoiding me. She gets angrier at the last statement, then finally turns and hisses at me, "Don't pull my family into this. If you want me to talk, figure out a way to do that yourself."

"But I _was_."

She ignores me, nevertheless, all the way through the prac, and gets the values wrong because she refuses to listen, or hear, or talk, until finally- I crack.

"Alright, you know what? I have no idea what the hell is going on with you these days. So what? I made you angry, and your dad humiliated you in front of all your friends. I _tried_ apologising to you already! Several times! You're the one who avoids me whenever I get close and glares at me whenever I'm within _ten_ metres of you! And you know what? I didn't get angry at you, didn't get irrationally upset, the entire time, because I thought that you needed space, and that when you wanted to talk, then we'd talk." She reels back in shock when my face starts to morph into a nasty snarl. "I don't care how upset you are at me, or what's going on at home right now. When we're in school, and when our-my education is on the line, and when these lessons will be the determiners of my future, _don't_ you _dare_ sabotage it with your petty problems."

"Tenten-" I hear Neji interject.

The bell signalling the end rings when my tirade ends. I storm away from the bench, ignoring the flabbergasted rows of students classmates staring at me when I stomp around like an elephant. This'll be a field day for them. Mr Umino calls out to me, and I double-back.

"Sir," I grit my teeth.

"Tenten," he says softly, letting the other students file out one by one after they've finished cleaning the benches. I feel a sudden spike of guilt for storming off and leaving the others to pack up after me. "I hope you realise the consequences of your actions."

"Sir, if you're going to punish me for being disruptive in the lab, then Hinata should be held accountable as well."

"I am aware of the conflict," he replies, eyes knowing and suddenly world-weary, "The both of you will be assigned a detention for Monday afternoon." He doesn't say anything else and walks back to his desk. I take it as a sign of dismissal, and push the door open gently on my way out.

"Tenten." Kami. It's impossible to catch a break in this place. I look up, seeing Neji staring at me coldly with his arms crossed over his chest. Hinata's standing behind him indignantly.

"What?" I respond. It comes out sharper than I intend, thankfully. His eyes barely twitch.

"You know what."

"I'm afraid you'll have to be a bit more specific," I say coolly. He glares, and surprisingly it isn't as frightening as it should be.

"You insulted Hinata."

"I'm sure she'll manage."

"That isn't the point, Tenten."

"Look," I glance down at my wrist in faux-concern, "I have roughly one minute before I get the hell away from you two and return to my own life, where no one flips their shit on me then has the gall to act affronted about me _standing up for myself_ ," I throw a look at Hinata, "and no one prioritises their friendship or their education over being petty and unproductive and unprofessional. What happened at Hyuga Mansion was my fault, I acknowledge that, and I've tried to make up for my mistakes. Hinata, you haven't even bothered to work with me here, and now Neji is the one who's speaking to me on your behalf. I'm not even sure if it's on your behalf, and clearly we don't matter to you as much as this conflict. Whatever you two have cooked up underneath your sleeves for me, I want out. In fact, I am out. Fuck this friendship, I'm sick of the Hyugas."

With a painful twirl of my foot, I walk away without looking back at them, but revelling in my victory.

It takes approximately two milliseconds to realise how completely and utterly _not_ -indifferent I feel about breaking up with Hinata.

In doing so, I've lost my confidante and the best friend I'd known for a solid decade. I turn around, suddenly summoning up the nerve to run up to her and take back my words, but the hallway was empty.

 _She doesn't care._

The voice rings mercilessly inside my mind.

 _It's your fault._ It is. I don't have a right to regret my actions when I'm the one who broke it off in the first place. Who am I to feel hurt and crushed and heartbroken when Hinata doesn't even bother to feign concern? She hightailed it away with Neji at her heels less than two seconds after I turned my back! Not even, two seconds!

"Tenten?" Sakura shouts.

Why is everyone calling out to me these days? I should start charging them.

"Tenten." It's a masculine voice this time.

"Tenten, let's get you up." Sakura's green eyes bore into mine the moment I curl out of the shrimp-position I didn't know I was in. I look behind her, see Sasuke, then look back at her again.

"Sorry for interrupting you guys," they glance at each other, confused.

"I don't know what you're talking about. We had to see Tsunade to discuss our transfer fees."

"Oh."

"That doesn't matter," she brushes invisible dust off my clothes, "What happened? Are you feeling well?"

"I guess not," I confess, "Can we get food?"

"Sure," Sasuke leads the way wordlessly, "Sure thing."

* * *

 _The Dowager Empress acts out of turn today, and places the glittering necklace around your neck with her own hands. The moon-shaped pendant rests just below your collarbones and shimmers brilliantly as the sunlight hits it._

 _You bow gracefully. Head down, back straight, smile gently. Rise._

 _"You look divine," her wizened old hands caress your cheeks tenderly, "As expected from my granddaughter."_

 _The handmaidens continue to fuss over your hair, pinning elegant jewels into your up-do while you try your best not to grimace in front of the imposing woman. She isn't characterised by a forgiving attitude, and tolerates no imperfection, regardless of one's bloodline._

 _"Thank you, Dowager Empress."_

 _You're given a pat on the shoulder and a blessing of good luck before she leaves; you finally let out a breath when the sliding door closes behind her. The handmaidens finish off the last-minute touches to your wedding robes, and step back to assess their work. The Queen walks in shortly afterwards, and praises the maids for their work. They are dismissed._

 _"My daughter," she greets you fondly. You smile in response and bow out the formalities. She hushes you, "This is your day, my child. Your father is proud," you see tears forming at the corners of her brown eyes, "As am I. May your marriage to the shogun lord be prosperous and fulfilling." You read between the lines: bear many sons for your new husband, or face the consequences._

 _None of this is voiced, you are not the impulsive girl you used to be. "I am honoured to be given this responsibility, my Queen. May the future of our country be pious and true." Your mother sobs a little, then leaves the room to be at the wedding hall earlier. You suck in a deep breath, careful not to disturb any of the cosmetic work that the maids' had tirelessly slaved over for her._

 _In a few minutes, you will meet your husband at the altar, and drink from the goblet to celebrate your Heavenly union. Then, at night-_

 _You blush, acknowledging the technicalities of a consummation. The doors open for the final time, revealing two guards and a kind-faced woman. She gives you the last gentle smile of the day, before you step into the world of cruel politics and malicious court-women that you've been trying to avoid your entire life prior to this moment._

 _Another deep breath in, and out. One step forward, two steps forward. This life will become easier._

* * *

The rest of the day passes by in a blur.

I recall gritting my teeth through a surprise maths-test, and throwing a bunch of basketballs around in PE, then chewing my way through _something, hopefully it was food_ at lunch and somehow making my way home on foot.

I numbly jam my keys into the lock and twist them around. The door opens with a pop, and a jingle of wind chimes, and reveals a wizened old woman standing on the other side, shocked.

"Um." _That_ jolted me out of my stupor. I take a few steps back, taking in the smooth lines of a black, slate-tile roof and the ornate carvings of a cherry-wood door. The old woman smiles at me, a familiar set of deep, brown eyes twinkling.

"Tenten."

"Gramma?" My speech slurs when I jump into her arms. She pats my back, bemused.

"Sweetheart, the years haven't been kind to your weight."

I laugh, letting go of her small frame and wiping a few stray tears from my eyes.

"Don't cry, Tenten, you look horrible when you cry." I smile weakly at her unspoken request. "There," she reaches for my cheek with a wrinkled hand and strokes it gently, "My beautiful girl."

"When did you come back?"

"Just today," she leads me into the Sarutobi Mansion's living room, where Gramps and Grandma Biwako are reclining on the couches. "Your paternals were more than generous." They greet us merrily.

"You weren't at the funeral."

Her eyes turn downcast. "You felt abandoned."

"Lonely," I correct her, "But you're going to stay this time, right?" I ask her hopefully.

"Until you graduate. I owe you that much."

"You owe me nothing, Grandma."

"But your mother does." Her gaze turns towards the Sarutobi grandparents. "Any news on my daughter?"

They suddenly look terrifyingly uncomfortable. "We're doing everything we can," Grandpa Hiruzen admits, "But she's untraceable."

She sighs, shakes her head, and smiles ruefully. "I'd thought as much. She's as stealthy as I am." The dying sun illuminates her greying hair and casts a shadow over her tired features. She looks up at me, "Thank goodness you didn't inherit our genes, Tenten. You stand firm. You're strong. I only pray that you being her mirror image doesn't impact on your resolve." Standing up slowly, Grandma presses a gentle kiss to my forehead and heads up the stairs with Biwako. "I hope you visit every day, sweetheart, it's always a pleasure to see you."

* * *

 **guest (flamer):** I'm not actually going to give this person a response, because clearly, as one of the guests pointed out, s/he hadn't even bothered to read through the story so there's really no point in saying anything.

 **Guest:** Thank you for clearing up guest (flamer's) review and reassuring me that s/he does this on a regular basis. I agree that s/he is being quite subjective with their judgement, but it's absolutely fine. I appreciate your insight and your support, however, and thank you for being transparent with me about this. All the best!

 **Guest:** Haha, true. Hinata has been pretty "beachy" for a while now, and as this is one of the key parts of the story, I guess you need to keep reading to find out!

 **Guest:** That is a very acute guess, and I guess that his transportation may or may not be the case? Haha, I'm taking a leaf out of jazzberryjuice's book and being deliberately vague (I love her work), but I'm glad that you're interested in his character! Hope you keep enjoying the story!

Anyway, thanks for reading everyone! I'll try to update soon, but meanwhile: please review!

-misspandalily


	7. Chapter 6

**_Thank you, favouriters and followers! Also, Reiyaame, PuppyLoveCharm, guest, thanks for reviewing! Guest response is down below, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

* * *

"I'm not trying to antagonise you or anything," the screensaver fizzles away, revealing a raunchy-looking website with questionable advertisements on the side, "but, why on earth would Sasuke sign himself up for a swinger's party?"

Temari looks back at me, to where I'm surrounded by papers and papers of homework and struggling not to fall asleep from the ennui that is mathematics. She feigns a look of contempt.

"He's a mature man."

"He doesn't even have a _girlfriend._ Or, a boyfriend. Partner - whatever, I don't discriminate." She swivels around on my chair and clicks on Sasuke's profile. A image of his face photoshopped onto a Schwarneggian figure pops up. "This was probably Naruto's doing."

"You don't say," she smirks, then closes the tab and clears my - _all her_ \- search history, and turns to face me with her long legs crossed over each other. "But, there are more pressing matters. Like, for instance, your non-friendship with Hinata. What the hell happened?"

Maths, what a subject. "M'suddenly fascinated by projectile motion. Why don't you help me out a bit here?"

Temari huffs impatiently. "Stop avoiding my question every time I bring her up, Tenten. It's not worth it, destroying an eight-year friendship over something so trivial."

"Well, when you put it like that," I start off, eyebrows still furrowing at the worksheet, "I almost feel guilty for standing up for myself. Not."

"Care to tell me _how_ , though? You're telling me everything _except_ for what happened."

My book snaps shut. "Look," I seethe, at no one in particular, "All I did was try to cooperate with her during chem, alright? It is not my fault that she refuses to acknowledge how sorry I am for demoting her in front of her dad, _unintentionally, might I add_ ," Temari's face is impassive and apathetic, "and then refuses to work with me! If she's willing to jeopardise both of our educations over something so _trivial_ that she won't even let _go_ , then I have nothing to say to her. There _are_ other things I'm trying to cope with right now, and her if she wants to talk to me about _whatever_ is happening between us, then she can approach me by herself now."

My chest is heaving from the rant, and I can feel the blood draining away from my face when I'm done. Temari's still, unnervingly, as unfazed by it as a rock. She detangles her legs and faces the desktop screen again.

"Well?" I ask angrily, "Why aren't you saying anything anymore?"

Stone cold, "Fair point," she scrolls down a Wikipedia page and starts to type up her Revolutions report, the one she said she'd start like, two hours ago, "I'm not about to question your priorities."

I don't go back to my homework. "What don't I know, Temari?" Something flickers in her eyes when I question her. She freezes up, then relaxes.

"You need to keep this a secret, until Hinata works up the courage to tell you herself."

"Have I ever let one out?"

Temari smiles lightly, "No."

"Then, what is it?"

She relinquishes her hold on the mouse and keyboard and leans back into the chair. "Hinata's been conflicted, as of late. She doesn't sleep, doesn't eat, barely manages to pull herself together whenever she shows up at Ino's house. Naruto's seen the same things too, but he's not spilling on _why_. It just seems like there's something bigger going on at home than you, or any of us, think, Tenten."

"That still doesn't explain why she's so angry at me all the time, though."

"True," her eyes turn, downcast, "But maybe you're just one of the root causes? You know Hinata as well as we do. She doesn't know how to handle anger and rage like us. Everything about her life up until this point has been subordination after subordination; there's no way that this much anger towards you _isn't_ warranted. I hate to be the lecturer, and the overbearing _Hiashi_ in this situation, but remember that when you were mourning over your parents, Hinata was the one who catered to you the most. She didn't _have_ to spend as much time with you as she did, so trust me when I say that there is no way that Hinata hates you. There's resentment, maybe, and hurt, definitely, but I doubt you two need to battle it out like jungle cats when there's so much more underlying love between the two of you."

 _Kami_ , why do I feel like the worst human being ever? The universe must be laughing at me for being such a horrible friend, because there is no way that I would've missed all that if I was attentive and alert. "So," I begin tersely, "What should I do?"

"Get ready for the family dinner tonight," she replies nonchalantly, as though the emotionally-jarring pep talk never actually happened, "You could use the time to recuperate while you're being the biggest turd-muffin of a friend, ever."

 _Wow._ I deserve that.

* * *

As far as all Sarutobi family reunions go, this one's a knock out. There's Chinese on the tables, and sesame dumplings is served along with tofu soup and roasted chestnuts. Grandmas give me a pleasant smile and a cheerful wink when I show up at the front door, and it's all too soon that Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon (the Golden Trio of Konoha, in my opinion) are crashing landing onto me and calling out my name enthusiastically.

"Geroff," I groan, when someone's foot makes contact with my stomach, "I ate too much." They don't, but eventually a smooth, feminine voice calls them away for food and extends a hand for me to get up.

"You came," Kurenai greets me, eyes warm and inviting, "To be honest with you, I was expecting you to bail on us."

It is phenomenally difficult to stay angry at Kurenai for more than two seconds at a time, seriously. She just _had_ to have that perennially-understanding expression and gentle smile and radiation of kindness, of all traits. Why.

"It's family," I shrug, and that's the limit of my talk-to-step-mum quota for the night. She seems to have concluded such an intention, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest because she's so analytical and empathetic, and backs off for the rest of the night to talk to her grown-up friends. It is actually impossible to describe her negatively.

"Tenten," Hiruzen Sarutobi clasps my shoulder warmly, "You're here! Come, let's have a talk." He leads us into the living room, where Konohamaru is currently giggling and sharing a comic strip with Moegi and Udon, and the Grandmas are chuckling merrily about idle gossip. We sit down, facing each other while huddled inside separate blankets.

It's cold, alright?

"How are you, Gramps?"

He laughs merrily, a stark contrast to the tense and silently-fuming Tenten-missed-her-detention grandfather, "Well, Tenten. I am well."

"Not stressed?" He usually is, being Mayor and all.

"No," he laughs to himself, "Not unless you have another detention soon."

Okay, _actually_...

"You do." He says blankly.

"Yes." I hug the blankets closer to my chest when his expression suddenly darkens, "On Monday."

"What for."

"I-" I start hesitantly, but figure that this story will look bad no matter how much I try to spin it, so I charge ahead, "I stormed out of my chemistry prac."

"Why."

Konohamaru's starting to find the least obtrusive way to sneak out of the living room with his friends, and the Grandmas don't seem to be affected at all, to be honest.

"I got angry at Hinata," I say truthfully. It sounds stupid, at face value.

"What did I tell you about my Golden Rule, Tenten? You promised to abide by all them when you moved out."

"Never run away from my problems," I whisper back, almost shaking in my seat. He notices the sudden, imposing tension in the room and simmers down a little until the only thing he's doing now is low-key glaring.

"You are a privileged, wealthy, and elitist female who attends the richest Academy in the Land of Fire." I wince at every word. "Your own personal issues with your classmates, however intense they seem at the time, should _never_ get in the way of your education. Your behaviour," he adds, pointing his forefinger at me sternly, "Is in no way excusable, because as my granddaughter, and a citizen of the world, you are still expected to conduct yourself properly and accordingly-"

"Because I'm a _girl_?" I shout out, angrily. What is this? Lecture Tenten day? The entire house is silent. "Is it because I'm a _girl_ that you're grilling into me like this? I never see _you_ yelling at Konohamaru for getting detentions every week! When's the last time you've scolded him for that? Huh? Worse things have happened at school to warrant a detention, Grandpa! So what, I yelled at my friend for not cooperating with me during the stupid prac, because believe it or not, I _have_ been doing my best to act accordingly! To her! I didn't run away from my problems, I addressed them head on and _tried_ to resolve them - and obviously that didn't work!"

"This has nothing to do with your issues, nor your gender," he raises his voice when mine starts to increase in volume, "In fact, those are trivial matters - I treat your cousin in the same way that I treat you. You just haven't present enough to see it." Ouch, okay. I deserve that too. "My point, Tenten, if you would so kindly let me finish, is that as someone from a more privileged background and socioeconomic status than _many_ people around the world, you need to acknowledge how lucky you are and you need to _earn_ it. _Because_ you are lucky, you don't need to work graveyard shifts in order to pay off your rent. _Because_ you are lucky, you live in a bustling metropolis with plentiful career opportunities and a healthy political environment. _I_ expect you to come down from your lofty pedestal of privilege and realise that life isn't so easy that your biggest problems revolve around friendship problems and internal insecurities.

"Your father died, yes, and that was a terrible event, but remember - my only son is dead." He pauses, a stricken look passing over his face. I can feel tears (of anger? sadness?) dribbling down my cheeks and onto the surrounding blanket."I still rose from Asuma's passing because there was still a village to run and a family to take care of here, in the living realm. _Because_ I knew that somewhere outside of these city boundaries, many more people were suffering from problems worse that those we have." Another brief period of silence, the animated chatter slowly returns to the dining room, albeit forced. "In other words," Grandpa says, "get over yourself. And stop getting detentions."

Yeah.

Even though _that_ happened, I still think the night's been a knockout. There's still Chinese food on the marble countertops, there's still sesame puddings left on a spare platter, there's still three little kids tackling me to the ground every two seconds and demanding High School Stories, there's still a step-mother who I may or may not be warming up to, slowly, there's still stiff nods from Grandpa even though he's the _worst_ at staying angry at people, there's still Grandma Biwako and Grandma there to give out reassuring hugs like raffle tickets at a fundraiser event, there's still _family_.

In the end, when I step outside and see the taxi pulling up in the driveway to take me back home, when I walk up to the driver's window and tell him to go home to his family, when I step back _inside_ and kiss all the old people who've raised me and the younger ones who've been my little babies since _forever_ , it's _family_ who'll be there for me - every step of the way. Even Dad. And possibly mother. Probably Kurenai.

"Tenten," Grandma greets me warmly, "Are you staying over?" She looks expectant, hopeful.

"Of course."

* * *

 _Your husband is handsome._

 _Even in the candlelight, inside the room that would inevitably lead to your pregnancy, inside the room that closes in on you and makes you feel constricted and intimidated, he is stunning._

 _It takes mere minutes for you to realise that he is moving closer, with his robes flying behind him and his steely eyes never leaving yours. You'd hardly talked during the wedding ceremony, because your parents and his parents were discussing all of the formalities of your marriage like it was a business deal rather than your life. You sigh - it's not like you weren't expecting to be treated dismissively upon your return. When your husband reaches you, and expertly pulls out the hairpins keeping your elaborate up-do together, he watches it tumble down below your shoulders to the middle of your thighs._

 _All the robes in the kingdom couldn't have prevented you from feeling so naked under his gaze._

 _"Princess," he whispers, his voice sending shudders down your spine, "Please allow me the honour of becoming your husband tonight."_

 _This surprises you, for obvious reasons. You'd assumed that he would act as every other man in your life has - authoritatively and possessively. You think back to the man who ran away into the mountains with you, made love to you under the moonlight as you acted to defy the Holy Emperor's wishes, fought alongside you when angry, ripped-off merchants and their mercenaries hunted him down. And yet, you came back to the life you'd wanted to escape. You came back from the raw, passionate existence you had with that man, and returned to the Jade Palace, where everyone scrutinises your every move. Because that man brought you suffering and pain, but refused to let you go. You hated how restricted you felt; if anyone was to hold you down, it would be by your own choice._

 _A sick feeling rises in your stomach when you realise that an arranged marriage is in no way your choice, but at least you were the one who proposed it - somewhat foolishly._

 _The shogun lord begins to look confused when you don't answer him. He starts to step away as the Heavenly monks and shamans step in._

 _"Husband," your croaky voice calls out. "Let us consummate this marriage."_

* * *

So.

Monday afternoon in detention.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

At least Umino's supervising us. _Us_ , being me, Hinata and Neji (by proxy). Yay, dream squad.

"Alright, you three, detention starts right now. Now," he waggles a finger in the air, "I personally think you should all make use of your time and finish that homework I'd assigned to you, but, if you want to sit around and waste away while you could be doing something productive, go for your life. I won't judge you," except he totally is. His eyes are narrowed down at us so intently that we all wordlessly extract our worksheets and numbly fill out the questions. Well, I do. Neji doesn't.

 _He_ puts up his perfectly-manicured arm (whatever, it works) and says, "Sir, I've already finished off your homework."

Umino practically beams as he walks up to collect Neji's sheets, shooting me and Hinata a look-who's-getting-a-sticker-when-you're-not glance before striding back to his desk with a skip in his step.

 _Right_ , so Hinata.

Hiruzen rule numero uno. _Right_. Loft mountain of privilege to step off.

I clear my throat, then turn towards Hinata hesitantly. My legs are shaking so hard from nervousness that they start to rattle the table. She looks up at the sound, confused, eyebrows furrowing, then realises that it's coming from _me_ and ducks her head down demurely. _That's_ new.

"Hinata," I whisper, wary of Umino's supportive grin and thumbs up, "Hinata."

"What?" She replies softly. _That_ is new as well.

"Can we talk?" Neji's starting to give us - me - threatening glares for disrupting his Holy Cone of Silence and Productivity and Non-Wasting-Away-ness, but whatever. I've seen scarier looks.

Hinata's starting to look as nervous as I feel, because now her eyes are doing that shaky, wobbly thing they do when she's under extreme pressure. "Sure."

I don't know what the heck happened on the weekend to spark this change in her, but I sure as hell am _not_ complaining about it. Not for now, anyway. One step at a time. I suck in a deep breath. "I'm sorry for being so mean to you, the other day. I let my anger get the best of me; it was my fault."

She allows herself to meet my eyes. "That's fine," she says, bluntly.

"And," I decide to ignore the pressing need to _not_ stir up more conflict and continue, "I still want to be your friend, even though we haven't been the best people to each other lately. And, I don't actually know what's troubling you, which I should've endeavoured to find out and help you with _before_ I thought about myself, but I did realise over the weekend that-" I inhale again, noting the surprised look on her face that I'd actually admitted to one of my flaws, and the side-glare that Neji's still sending me, and the thumbs-up that Umino's still giving out, "You've been with me every step of the way, from when we were ten and planning escapades into the playgrounds, from when we both decided to go to the same high school even when you wanted to attend that Girl's Academy on the other side of town, and even when my dad died, you-you were always next to me and making sure I was okay. I'd never realised that," I pause to sniffle - _pathetic, who sniffles in public?_ \- and watch her expression morph from concealed hurt to perplexed happiness, "And I really, really, truly, want you to be in my life again. I miss you, girl."

Hinata opens her mouth to speak after a long, _long,_ contemplative silence, during which Neji stops glaring and turns away and Mr Umino suddenly looks like he'd rather be marking our assignments than listening in.

"It's not just you, it's me. I mean," she lets out a grimace, "I was a total bitch to you as well, and it's not right for me to get so mad at you and refuse to let you apologise. I was stupid, and I don't blame you for being in the dark because you went through some tough times, and it's not like I told you what my problems were either." She drops off at the end, voice cracking. "I was so scared, and so stupid for letting my issues get in the way of our friendship."

"We were stupid." I grin, feeling the summer rays warm up my back.

"Agreed," she nods in response. Then, "I've missed you, too."

"We cool?"

She feigns another contemplative expression, then purses her lips like she's thinking it over. "Yeah, I guess," Hinata grins back, "Who else is going to pay for my food when Naruto isn't there?"

Of course, at that moment, Umino clears his throat and destroys the moment like the newly-discovered evil-brain-genius that he is and awkwardly rasps out: "Detention is over. Please, get out."

So, that's how, on a Monday afternoon, precisely one week after Hinata flipped her shit at me, and a few days after I flipped out on _her_ , we end up walking side by side (with Neji on Hinata's right) to our homes while laughing and catching up on a week's worth of drama. Still, though. There's a nasty, prickly feeling that's been nagging at my head for a few days.

"I've been getting weird dreams lately," I swing my head around and look at her, "Like, they're about as weird as dreams normally get, but, like, they don't _feel_ like dreams, you feel?" Great English, Tenten, you're a real, prize-winning public speaker.

Surprisingly, Hinata hums in agreement. "I know how you feel, it's a bit like reliving a memory, but in a dream."

"Wait, what?" I pause on the side-walk and gape for a few seconds. "How do you even know what I'm talking about?"

"Well," she stammers out, bemused, "I mean, the other day, I was dreaming about this time when my dad called us up to study, and it was a really hot day so I could remember how stressful it was and I could remember feeling really tired."

"Oh." I mumble. She looks at me curiously.

"What kind of dreams have you been having?"

"I don't know," I respond, catching Neji's eye-roll, "Strange ones about princesses and marriage and palaces and stuff. The faces are always blurry, too," I shrug it off, realising how stupid it sounds, "But the _content_ isn't weird, so much as the fact that I can remember them. I usually forget about my dreams the moment I wake up!"

"Maybe it's just a phase," Hinata suggests airily, "I guess whatever your dream's about must be fascinating enough for you to remember. I honestly don't know how to help you with this." Ah, the brutally straight-forward Hinata, back again.

"That's alright," I reply agreeably, kicking a stone out of my path on the side-walk, "It doesn't really matter." Neji scoffs, clearly judging the triviality of our conversation. "Shut it, Neji."

Hinata giggles, "Yeah, shut it, Neji."

He stops scoffing, but makes it painfully clear that he's still judging us, if the mock-disdainful look is any indication of his scorn.

"In any case, I'm glad you're back."

We reach the door of my apartment building and exchange hugs before they amble off to the next block, probably to get picked up by Kakashi's fancy limo. I heave the door open, suddenly feeling the fatigue of the day drop down on me. My eyelids are positively drooping by the time I finish climbing up the staircase and reach the floor of my apartment, but there's one sight in particular that makes my eyes pop open in quiet shock.

The door is _open_.

With a shaky hand, I swing my arms forward - not an illusion. I step through, and am immediately greeted by the sight of _everything_ thrown _everywhere_ : the seasoning packets are open and spilled out all over the kitchen floor, my schoolbooks, graded assignments and stationary kits are lying all over the floor, and the insides of my couch are ripped up, fluff falling out of it in clouds of white.

And okay, I'm a messy person by nature, but even this - _this_ \- is a bit of a push.

Thank you, universe, for taking me ten steps forward, then twenty steps backward.

I move forward again, rushing into the bedroom and checking for anything salvageable - nope, nothing. Not even the desktop computer (which, whoever you are, you could've stolen instead of _destroyed_ if you wanted cash - unless you were paid to defile my house for a large sum of money) or the innocent books lying around on the ground.

And then - _and then_ \- it's there, sitting on my bed without a care in the world, words drizzling down the poster paper like blood.

 _I'm coming for you._

* * *

 ** _guest:_** Look, I get it. You're telling off the previous guest who left a harmless criticism a few chapters back. I know that you're upset, but it's really okay! Don't worry, I won't be discouraged by unsatisfied readers. Thanks for your concern, though!

 **Anyway, hope you liked this chapter, I know I liked writing it.**

 **-misspandalily**


	8. Chapter 7

**PuppyLoveCharm , your reviews light up my life. **

**On the topic of reviews, I'd like to make a shout-out to fanofthisfiction's Fanfiction Review Movement (FRM) - more info on either one of our profiles! - and I implore you guys to join it because FFN needs its readers and its authors to interact in order to create a more cooperative, positive community. **

**Another announcement: I'm predicting another three chapters for this fic until it's complete, and they're already in progress!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Okay, well.

What exactly does one do, when they come home to find their house ransacked from top to bottom, and an ominous message lying on one's bed?

Freak out, is how it goes.

"Tenten, you need to calm down." Grandma's voice filters through the mouthpiece reassuringly, "I'm being driven over as we speak, so lock the doors and windows, and grab a saucepan in case someone other than your Grandpa Hiruzen, or I, walks into your house. Remember that trick I taught you when you turned ten?"

I nod, taking several deep breaths over and over again. "Hit them in the nose, and make it look like self-defence."

"Good girl," she replies, as I frantically click the lock on the front door, heave a massive arm-chair over to bolster my defences, and slam all the windows shut. Grandma's cursing on the other end of the line, yelling at what I assume are traffic lights, then speaks again just as I pick up my heaviest saucepan, "Have you finished, sweetheart?"

"Yeah," I sit in the middle of the room with a heavy frown. Someone's knocking on the front door. "Granny," my voice quietens down into a hoarse whisper, "Someone's here."

She curses. "We'll be at your front door in a few seconds. Just hang tight." The line goes dead. The knocking persists.

It's definitely not one of my friends; Temari has band rehearsal every Monday afternoon, Neji and Hinata already went home not long ago, and Sakura and Ino are in a joint Vegans' Society meeting today. At least, I think they are. Right now, I'd give anything for one of them to _not_ be busy.

Someone's screeching, now. It's a terrible sound. Not quite human, and not quite animal either. I wince when something loud bangs against the door, thankful that I had the foresight to reinforce it with the chair. On second thought, maybe that chair can only last for so long. I rush around to throw more heavy objects at the entrance.

It doesn't take long before I realise that hey, how is my life even at this point? There's either an enormous bird-beast squawking at my door, or somebody is pulling a serious prank on me, but it's a bad one, because I don't find this situation funny in any way.

Everything suddenly quietens down.

Then, "Tenten?"

Salvation!

I make my way towards the door cautiously, standing up on the arm chair and taking a peek through the eyehole. Sure enough, it's my grandparents, looking oddly terrified. I push the chair aside, then cautiously crack the door open. Oh, Kami.

There's a disturbing amount of red on the ground in front of me, and it's splashed all over the door and the walls around it, in what looks like a horrible attempt at graffiti. Only, street art rarely ever says _'You will be mine'_ in a private domain. It's kind of counterproductive. Grandma and Grandpa Hiruzen shakily enter my apartment.

Her face is grim and resolute when we lock the door behind us. "You are moving back to the mansion. Start packing, now."

So.

What to do when you've just been mentally assaulted, then ordered to do something you've been protesting against for the better part of four months?

I nod, then hurry the hell out of there.

* * *

 _You rush away from the Royal Physician with a skip in your step and a pink-cheeked grin spread all over your face. Your husband will be glad to hear the news. The both of you have been trying to produce a viable heir for almost a year, now. You'd feared the worst, that you were infertile, and that all of your efforts are fruitless._

 _He is kind, that is undeniable, and passionate, brave, loyal and strong. Your husband has not stepped a toe out of line like those of the other court ladies, neither has he threatened to displace you for not producing children at the rapid pace of a rabbit. Still, even with all of his love, and with all of the love that is blossoming in your heart for him, you cannot help but feel relieved that there will be a child in your marriage._

 _The Royal Family will be more than pleased to receive this news._

 _You arrive at the doors of his chambers just as the guards announce your incoming presence. They open the doors before you fling yourself into the Prince's arms._

 _"My beloved," you giggle, squeezing his abdomen tight as he chuckles. The sound is low and sends shivers down your spine. "I come bearing divine news."_

 _He finally manages to extract himself from your embrace and sits you down at his desk. "I have news for you too."_

 _"Oh," you feel slightly put out, but that is remedied when he touches your betrothal necklace fondly and places a light kiss on your forehead, "You go first."_

 _"I am leaving in two weeks." Time stops. Your heart ceases beating. What? "There is a war breaking out along our borders. As the shogun lord, and the Prince, I must join my men in their battle. Wife, please forgive me for abandoning you."_

 _You don't respond, only stare listlessly at his face as it drops. Even though you have become accustomed to the idea that he is a warrior who leads the troops of Japan with an iron fist, his announcement is unexpected, and ill-timed. No, it is the worst time for him to go to war. His child needs a father._

 _"My love?" His gaze implores you respond. His voice is desperate, and croaky._

 _"I-" Should you tell him? Tell him to abandon his soldiers for his pregnant wife? He will be torn between defending the country, in its present state, and defending the future of his country, in his wife. No, it will be best to keep quiet. Your husband does not need more worries on his plate. "I am surprised, at the very least."_

 _His shoulders sag down in relief when you finally reply. "It will only be for a few moons, maybe less. I do not expect this scuffle to last for very long."_

 _Forcing a smile onto your face, you rise from your seat and join your husband at his own. You press a chaste kiss to his lips, careful not to break into any sobs. He tries to deepen it, but you pull back, an idea forming in your mind._

 _"How about we join the commoners for a day? It has been a while since we ventured out to the market place in disguise."_

 _The love of your life responds with a nod, and a pleasant series of butterfly kisses on your neck._

* * *

 _Later, when the sun has reached its peak in the sky, the both of you emerge from the back doors of the Jade Palace and arrive at the local village. No one recognises you two, especially not when you are wearing worn, brown robes and have your hair styled in simple top-knots. Without the splendour and lavishness of Palatial accessories, no one ever looks twice at you and recognises your status and power. You revel in the anonymity, the feeling of freedom that grows in your heart with every step you take._

 _Your husband laughs when he catches sight of your growing, cheerful expression. He leans in close, and kisses your cheek, ignoring the scandalised looks of the noblemen around you._

 _"Where do you want to go first?"_

 _"The chestnut vendor," you respond almost at once, then blush, "I am highly partial to roasted chestnuts, husband. They are ripe this season."_

 _He obediently leads you to the stall, where he casually wraps his arms around your waist and yells out an order to the server. The man behind the counter gives them a cheeky grin, then gives you two a little extra for being so happy. You beam up at him tenderly, leaning into his embrace with a swelling feeling of love growing in your heart. This man is the one for you._

 _When the vendor requests payment for your meal, your husband releases you and pulls out his pouch. Y_ _ou grin at him again, then occupy your time by taking a look around the marketplace, deciding where to go next. The first sight that greets you makes your heart drop down to your feet._

 _It is_ him.

 _The man of your past, the one who fled with you, taught you how to hunt for yourself, indulged your every whim and fantasy. He is there, staring into your eyes like a hungry lion staring at its prey. You recall his parting words, his parting kiss, and the last words he'd spoken to you before you left to return home._

You are mine, and no one else's.

 _You remember slapping him away, claiming yourself as your own life. No one can hold you back, not without your permission. You remember his malicious laugh, his fiery gaze. He did not love you, only illusioned himself into it, and neither was he anything more to you than a man who gave you everything. You were both selfish._

 _Your husband calls out your name several times, before he turns to face the direction of your look of horror. But you know he sees nothing, because by the time he has fully swivelled around, the man is gone._

 _"What is wrong?" He brings you back down to earth with a brush of his hand against your cheek. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Come, let us buy some trinkets for our child."_

 _You allow him to lead you away from the chestnut vendor. His words hit you like a tonne of cattle._

 _"What did you say?"_

 _He meets your incredulity with a crinkle-eyed laugh. "The Royal Physician informed me of your news when I was delivering my message to the Emperor. Why did you not inform me earlier?" He wraps his arms around you again; your cheek presses against the hard planes of his chest miserably. "Was it because I was due to leave?_ _"_

 _You nod, several times, taking comfort in his warm, welcoming embrace. "I did not wish to burden you with this knowledge."_

 _He sighs shakily, then kisses the top of your hair as he strokes your back. "My family is no burden to me, Tenten. And," he pulls away, smiling at his use of your childhood nickname, while holding your shoulders in his hands delicately, "I promise, in the name of Kami, that I will return to you in six months, whether I am embroiled in a war or not. Our child will have a father. Trust me."_

* * *

Needless to say, the next morning is a terrible one.

Kurenai wakes the _entire neighbourhood_ up by "accidentally" dropping all the of pots and pans in the kitchen. All over the floor. With even spaces in between them.

"Why does she even live here?" I throw a pillow over my head churlishly.

"Well, she is pregnant with your half-brother."

...

Wait.

"WHAT?"

Grandma Biwako chuckles from behind her sewing kit, and remains seated in the guest room's armchair with a superior grin on her face. "It was quite a shocking discovery, to say the least. And, very sad. Poor girl was bedridden for days after she found out."

"Oh," the room is silent, save for the minute sounds of a needle popping its way through clothing. "That's...I don't know what to say."

"Well, sorry, for starters, would be a good choice," she fixes me a stern glance, "It has been three months, and that baby belly is starting to show now more than ever. That you've been treating her like junk hasn't helped her either."

I must be the world's most unobservant person, because _seriously_ \- three months of pregnancy and it's just flown completely over my head. Kami, Tenten, get a grip. "I will," then I look at the digital clock on the bedside table: eight in the morning. The sheets are thrown off my bed in milliseconds before I gently push Grandma Biwako out of the room. "Soon! I will, soon! I'll be late for school if I don't get ready. Talk to you later!"

Most of my uniform spares are torn from yesterday's robbery, so I pull on the clothes from yesterday, still dirty from the summery dust that blew into it on my way home, and still sweaty and icky from all the panicking I did when someone was trying to break their way into the apartment again.

Now _that_ , is an experience I don't want repeated. The police were all called in yesterday to investigate the crime scene, in _and_ outside, and check on all the cameras in the hallway for any clues. They'd informed us over the phone that after I'd locked the door to the apartment, the footage mysteriously, creepily fizzled out, all greyscale and gravelly, then came back with the bloodied scene that Grandpa Hiruzen saw when he arrived with Grandma.

Not for the first time in twenty-four hours, there's a dreadful feeling of foreboding making its way up my spine and clawing at my back like a vicious, feral cat. Only, something worse than a cat. Cats I can handle. I'm a black belt. Potentially-homicidal strangers with a weird squawking complex, I cannot.

Then there's the question of where Sasuke was throughout that entire ordeal. He literally lives ten metres away, so it couldn't have been _that_ difficult to hear the deafening screeching going on, and the door-banging. Then again, he might have been working at Ichiraku's, or at school. Or at that swinger's party. In any case, no one got hurt physically.

"Tenten, by all means, continue zoning out on the front step as we wait for you to board the car that will take you to the educational facility that opens the gateway to your future." Kurenai, _noticeably_ pregnant, huffs at me impatiently.

"Right, sorry." She sends me a quick smiles and gets into the car. I race after her, backpack in one hand and toast in my mouth, and shut the door behind me. After a few minutes, I finish swallowing down the rest of the bread - _jam. I love jam_ \- and straighten out my hair. Kurenai passes over a brush and a hair tie and a sympathetic smile, which I accept shyly. "Thank you," a brief pause, "For everything. I," She looks back at me from the front passenger seat expectantly. "I'm sorry for being such an ass. I've never really given you a chance, with all the things that've been happening, and you're pregnant so now you're _actually_ family. Well, not like you weren't before, but-"

She cuts me off with a light-hearted giggle and a fond smile. "I understand. Grief drives people up the wall; no sweat."

We beam at each other, which is new, and great, and thankfully things are starting to look up now. The driver swerves into the school's parking lot, gives out instructions for the both of us to punctually be in the car by three forty-five this afternoon or face the wrath of Grandpa Hiruzen, then drives away with a kind smile on his face. She waves me goodbye, then hobbles her way up the front steps and into the school.

Neji's already at my locker by the time I reach it; he gives my uniform an appraising glance, then takes in the lack of twin buns in my hair, and then scratches the back of his short, black hair, confused. "Did something happen?"

"You could say that," I respond lightly. Talking to the Hyugas again feels strange, and weird, but I'm not about to throw away friendly approaches from hot people, not when my life was flashing before my eyes approximately fourteen hours ago. "I've had a rough night."

"I can tell," he nods solemnly. Principal Tsunade's making her way down the hallway at that very moment, so I hastily brush my hair back into a bun and secure it with Kurenai's hairband. It snaps into place the moment Tsunade passes by. She pauses, then turns towards me with a scrutinising glare.

"Your violation of the dress code today is disturbing. But, your grandfather has informed me about your...circumstances. I'll let you off the hook today." She whips a hand-held machine out of a nowhere and presses seven million buttons before it prints out a white slip of paper. "Show this to your teachers when they interrogate you."

"Uh, thanks." She nods briskly, then walks away and effectively terrifies the socks off Naruto and the group of misbehaving first-years down the hall. I let out a breath, then pry open my locker and throw all my textbooks inside. Only then do I realise that Neji's still there, and leaning against the adjacent locker nonchalantly. "Can I help you?"

"Yes," he affirms authoritatively. I extract the necessary books and close the locker door, all the while peering at him expectantly, "Come to my place tonight. After school."

I stare back at him owlishly. "Your place? As in, Hyuga Mansion? Look, I don't think Hiashi's that pleased to-"

"You won't see him," he interrupts me sharply, "He's on a business trip. And, in any case, I don't live in Hyuga Mansion. I live with my mother, on the other side of town." I don't respond immediately, because _holy shit_ Neji Hyuga, Hyuga Industries poster boy and cousin of my best-friend, newly re-acquainted, has just asked me to his place for an unknown reason. This is the worst time to have a curfew that I actually want to obey for once.

"Neji," I sigh, "As much as I'm honoured to be invited to your abode, I have a strict curfew that has been enforced since yesterday night."

He genuinely looks shocked by this turn of events. "But, don't you live alone?"

"I did," I admit, spotting the confusion rising up again, "But something happened last night, and," it suddenly dawns on me that the only people who could possibly know about my former habitat are the ones who attend this school. Unless, I have a stalker from outside of the school - that would make things a lot more complicated. It's probably best not to outline the details, in any case, because the perpetrator might still be lurking around here and eavesdropping. It could even be _Neji_. He looks affronted when I fix him Principal Tsunade's trademark judgemental stare. "Well, see, I can't tell you what's going on at the moment, but I do know that I can't come to your place tonight, or any other night anymore. Sorry."

His brows furrow elegantly. "No problem." Thinking about it, Neji _was_ with Hinata the entire day at school, and he _was_ in our detention, and he _did_ walk with us back to school. There's no way that Neji had enough time to run over to my apartment and tear his way through it like a tornado.

I rock back and forth on the balls of my feet. "Is it something important?"

Neji nods absently as he stares into the metal of my locker, possibly dissecting its metallic components and calculating the best way to chemically set off an explosion with the materials inside of it - maybe, the sandwich that's been inside my locker for the past week. Or, he's just thinking. "Yes, yes it is important. Very important." He adopts that pensive stare again. The bell signalling first period rings. "Where are you living now?"

Everyone starts rushing away and scrambling everywhere, while Neji just continues to look at me expectantly. "Uh, my grandpa's?"

"Great," he starts nodding to himself again, "That's good. I'll tell you what: I'll call your Grandpa this afternoon and get permission to come over, and if that happens, then, seven o'clock? Is that okay?"

I stare at him again. "Why are you doing this?"

He doesn't seem to get why I'm so shocked, because he shrugs and smiles and lights up the entire corridor when he does so, "Because I have something to show you."

"Uh-okay. I guess, if you want to. Wait," something clicks in my mind, "Shouldn't you be going home to your mum? Don't spend time with me when you have her, Neji. Seriously."

I make my way down the hallway to Chem, where Umino is tapping his foot against the floor impatiently. Neji follows. Umino huffs, then walks back into the classroom. "Then I'll bring her along."

What in the _world_? What is up with everyone today?

"By all means, good luck. Just don't come crying when Grandpa turns you down."

Something in Neji's eyes make me pause in my footsteps. He leans his head down, brushing his fingers past my cheek in a strangely _familiar_ gesture, "I don't give up that easily, Tenten." Then he smiles, perks right up and strides into the classroom without another word.

I take a breather, lean against the nearby lockers and mentally freak out. That was the last thing I was expecting to see from Neji, of all people. Walking into Chem and seeing his smirk is definitely something I'm not looking forward to doing anymore. Breathe, Tenten, breathe.

I straighten my back, close my eyes, and count to three. You can do this. Neji Hyuga totally isn't making your heart beat like crazy.

A nearby screeching sound makes my blood run cold.

Footsteps. Heavy. Male. They're close. Last night's screeching sounds are rounding around the corner; my feet are frozen.

This is bad, really bad.


	9. Chapter 8

**_WHAT IS THIS? ANOTHER CHAPTER?_**

 ** _Thank you so much for all the great feedback! keroRiBBIT, Guest, fanofthisfiction, twinquies, Pufferie and PuppyLoveCharm, jazzberryjuice, tabine and s0ulmatch3r, you guys are fantastic. _**

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

* * *

I take a tentative step forwards, praying that the shrieking will die away and the phantom figure from yesterday will dissipate.

 _Blink._

The piercing noise stops, to my relief. And then there's a blissful silence, save for the panting of late students running into school with their bags bobbing up and down behind them. I recognise Moegi streaming past and sending a brief wave before disappearing into another hallway.

Snap out of it, Tenten, you're just hearing things.

I swivel around for extra measure, skimming the immediate corridor for any signs of red paint or creepy messages. None. My breathing starts slowing down to a normal pace as I lean against the door of Umino's classroom, chest rising and falling with each intake and outtake of breath. The distinct smell of cleaning liquid and sweat flows into my nostrils the moment I calm down enough to start registering the other events transpiring around me, like the outline of Gai running to the beat of his exercise music in the school gym, and the disturbing notion that not one person passing by seems to have heard a thing. Which leads to two different, yet equally harrowing hypotheses:

One, my auditory cortex is acting up and everything unusual I've been hearing over the past two days is absolute bogus. (Rebuttal: But that doesn't explain why everything feels and sounds so _real._ )

Two, only I can hear the noises.

And, honestly, as bad as it sounds, I would take cranial dysfunction over the second option any day.

* * *

If training with Lee for three straight years has taught anyone anything, it's that exercise is the best aphrodisiac in the world. So, for the first time in days, and during first period no less (undoubtedly, Umino will be stamping a cold, hard detention next to my record), my feet carry themselves over to the dojo for some hearty frustration-venting, stress-relieving, one-sided violence.

Fun fact: it really doesn't hurt that no teacher ever ventures into the dojo unless they're immune to the scent of sweat, like Gai, who advocates for fitness and body positivity so fervently that he wouldn't kick me out even if he had to, "legal action be damned".

The pungent smell of perspiration diffuses throughout the centre with increasing rapidity when I start sinking my fists into the bag and round housing it into oblivion. Bend, twist, release. The bag swings up higher from the impact and creaks as it whooshes down like a pendulum. Breathe, Tennie. You're not going crazy. There's a perfectly logical explanation for everything - the weird noises, the raid, the _paint_ , the threats.

It's just a stupid prank.

 _Please_ be a stupid prank.

* * *

"Fancy seeing you here," Temari angles a not-so-subtle glance at the flushed cheeks and sopping wet hair that is indicative of a post-exercise shower and frowns, "Where have you been?"

"In the dojo," I shrug, settling my tray onto the designated cafeteria table. "I didn't feel like going to class."

Which isn't exactly a _lie_ , so to speak, as much as it is veiled truth.

She watches me carefully when I sit down and then turns away. "I heard something interesting from Hinata," she says with a tone of nonchalance.

"Oh?"

"She tells me that Neji told her that he's visiting your place tonight, at seven."

"So, does she also tell you that I told Neji that his visitation was pending approval, and from not-me?"

Temari lets the corners of her lips droop dramatically. "No. But I _am_ glad that you two are on speaking terms again."

"Yeah, me too," I take a moment to breathe. "But, just curious. Did Neji happen to say anything else to Hinata...before she told you?"

"HA," Temari shouts, slamming her palms onto the hard plastic of the table as she stands up, chair legs scraping deafening against the floor. The sound echoes throughout the cafeteria and draws some startled glances from nearby patrons. "Not really," she shrugs, feigning disinterest and seating herself again. "Just that he wouldn't be home for dinner at Buckingham Palace again."

"I thought he lived with his mother?"

"Really?" She responds, genuinely incredulous.

"That's what he told me," I bite into a sandwich, letting its contents slide down my throat. Of course, right after that, he'd invited himself to my house for the night. And then my stalker decided to make themself known - at _school_. So clearly, they were a student, or someone who was skilled enough to disappear at a moment's notice. But _seriously_ , that noise.

"Hm," she hums contemplatively, giving me a funny look.

"What?"

"I just had no idea he lived with her, is all. In fact, none of us did. Except you, now." Neji suddenly makes an appearance in the cafeteria with Naruto on one side and a grouchy Sasuke on the other. Temari eyes them thoughtfully. "Fascinating."

Fishy, is more like it. Hyuga heiress goes haywire over truffle advocacy, Hyuga poster boy pops in with a haircut - which, going by the rest of the Hyugas in their mansion, is uncommon to the point of unspeakable - and a determination to expose...something...tonight, Uchiha exchange student happens to move into the apartment next door, and right after making up with aforementioned Hyuga heiress, the apartment gets ransacked and creep-stamped, and said creep comes to school and disappears. Note to self: target Naruto to find out what happened at home; alternatively, ask Hinata herself. And avoid Sasuke.

Even if he has amazing cheekbones.

And the _dreams_. The first few are few enough to be dismissed as an overactive imagination. But, afterwards, it's coincidental. Almost _real_.

"-right, Tenten?"

"What?"

Temari looks over, mildly affronted that I didn't hear what she just said, and exchanges a Look with an apple-toting Ino, who responds with a suspicious glare.

"You were thinking about Neji, weren't you?"

"No," I say quickly, noticing said boy being pushed to the taekwondo team's table by Naruto. "Shut _up_. And I wasn't, for your information."

She folds her hands together and places her chin on top of her fingers. "Then what, pray tell, were you thinking about so deeply that prevented you from listening to the dulcet tones of my voice?"

"They weren't dulcet-"

"Yeah, that's great Temari," Ino waves her right hand dismissively, using the other to bring the apple to her mouth and bite it. "So, in all seriousness. Are you alright, Tenten?"

"Why? Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've just been a little...off. Lately. I mean, more so than usual."

"Wow. And I'm _fine_ ," I lie, but stress the last word anyway - because who in their right mind would believe my recounts of the past few days? Definitely not her, or Temari, or anyone except my grandparents. There simply isn't any point, at this moment in time, in venting about something that seems more likely to be happening in my mind as the days pass. "I'm tired, is all. From the dojo practice."

They see through the lie, clearly, and send each other another cryptic glance before resuming their meals.

"All I'm saying," Ino continues airily, "Is that if you're feeling bothered by anything at all, we're your friends and we're here to help."

"I'm fine," I respond sharply. Because, on top of everything that's been happening lately, there's still that big, gaping question of where my mother is. Where she _had been_ , when Asuma Sarutobi died in a car crash. Why she hadn't been in that dinky little apartment next to Ichiraku's that she'd left behind right after his death. Why, when I'd been staying in it for months in the hopes that she'd come back and pull me into her arms and tell me that _it's alright_ , _you don't have to deal with this without me anymore_ , she hadn't shown up.

No calls, no texts, no emails. Not even a letter, or a word to _her_ mother.

"I'm fine," I repeat in a softer tone. They spot the lie again, but choose to shrug it off. "Thank you."

* * *

 _You are no stranger to gilded finery. You live in a world where golden dragons line hallways, beads of jade crafted by the finest workers hang down the necks of court women, and food served on plates of gold are placed at your dinner table._

 _A delicate box of jewels delivered to your bedroom has no effect on you, in contrast to the letter accompanying it. Your husband,_ _despite being a man of war, writes with elegant calligraphy._

 _He has been away for far longer than the expected time, but you are a patient woman. You spend your days preparing for your child's arrival, making small talk with the palace maids and busying yourself enough to collapse onto your bed in a state of fatigue every night._

 _And one day, the letters stop arriving. The ones you send out never find their home in the hands of a man with pale, white hands. You don't need to see the messenger arriving at the Palatial Court, scroll in hand and grim expression in place, to know what Fate has had in store for your husband. With great effort, you try to bar yourself from crying._

 _"Lord Hyuga has bestowed the greatest honour upon our country."_

 _The Emperor - your father - sends him away with a flick of his wrist, eyes unwaveringly staring at the space where the messenger had been standing. There is a sudden kick from the inside of your belly. You lurch forwards, wincing at the pain but smiling sadly. Your mother looks to the side in concern._

 _"The_ _child will be strong, like his father."_

 _Another kick. The bottom of your robes begin to wet at a rapid pace. You lurch forward again, this time in unbearable pain._

 _The maids rush forward, hands frantically touching your shoulders, and then you hear your father roaring for the Royal Physician to arrive immediately._

 _I_ _t is time._

* * *

 _"A boy." The Physician beckons for the maids to wash the infant as soon as you feel them separate your baby from the cord. Some rush over with wet towels, while others hurriedly clean up the bloody mess on your bedsheets._

 _You feel weak, your throat sore and hoarse from the screaming. Suddenly, you realise why so many women dread childbirth._

 _But you are inexplicably, uncontrollably curious. "Let me see him," you order. Does he have his father's eyes? Or your brown hair? Will he speak like his father, write in fluid script and poetic verse? Or will he be more akin to you, with a sharp tongue and desire to escape? A desire to run away? The nurse carries your child over to you with a bright smile, announcing that the Emperor and Empress are pleased with the news._

 _At the very least, he will be loved by his grandparents. Still shaking and weak, you watch your baby being lowered into your arms, the blanket wrapped around him a brilliant blue. The moment he makes contact with your fingertips, however, results in another painful lurch. You gasp, eyes widening, desperately looking up at the Physician and nurses, who rush back to the end of your bed and lift up the blankets._

 _"There is another one!" One of them shouts, to your horror, "I can see the head!"_

 _Your baby begins to cry, and you beg for him to be close to you. The nurses smile at you sympathetically. "After you are finished, you will be seeing both at the same time."_

 _Your lower lip quivers, ready to outright demand to see your son, at the very least his face, but then your body jerks again and you scream._

 _You feel blood oozing down your legs, onto the mattress, and a sudden pain in your back. You breathe heavily, black spots flooding your vision, then look towards the baby in the adjacent cot and see his pale face and dark, dark hair. The nurses are patting a wet cloth over your forehead, begging you to keep pushing. Your body is screaming for you to rest, to stop, but it is your mind - fatigued from the simultaneous loss of a husband, elated from the birth of a son - that pushes you._

 _Hours later, the scream can be heard on the other end of the bed, a piercing shriek and the sensation of another mass leaving your body, is both relieving excruciatingly painful._

 _"A girl," the nurses note, with a less enthused tone. You nod, feeling yourself losing consciousness. The speech in the background is becoming nothing more than a soft hum. Your vision fades in and out intermittently. When you look up, the Physician is congratulating you, and then your husband is there, smiling softly and reaching for your cheek._

 _And then you know._

 _"Wait for me." You say. He smiles gently._

 _"I'm coming."_


End file.
